Hell Over Mahora
by Hellsender
Summary: Dimension-traveling, enigmatic and amoral teenage occultist, Leigh Constantine, arrives in the Negima! universe. What is his purpose here and why is Chisame becoming enamored with him? ChisamexOC
1. Between Mages and Mystics

A/N: Magic Teacher Negima! belongs to Ken Akamatsu. Other elements, names and objects mentioned in this story belong to their respective owners. I own my alter-ego OC and this story plot, all rights reserved.

A little skinny on my OC, he's an exorcist/occultist/alchemist/mystic (whatever you want to call him) who travels the Anime-verses ridding evil entities from multiple realms. He possesses many powers and abilities that will revealed later. He meets and befriends Negi quite a while before he graduated from his Magic Academy in Wales. Negi knows of his magical powers, yet he doesn't know much about his true past. I'm basing this story somewhere in the anime storyline. I'm not very well versed with the manga version so bear with me. However, I will be borrowing a few elements from it and others as well. This takes place sometime during 2nd semester.

Note: I don't use the Japanese suffixes so sorry if you're offended, but to me, they're weird and **extremely** irking. Since my OC has had a past history in other worlds, I'll leave it up to you to guess whom he met. This fic will also contain a controversial topic so, sorry about that.

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**Chapter 1: Between Mages and Mystics**

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_Mahora Hotel_

_Mahora, Japan_

_Present Day_

It was showering outside in the large city of Mahora on the little island of Japan. Not many people are out, mostly because they are a little afraid of the little droplets of water falling from the heavens. Yet it was a nice rain, a cleansing rain, or one could hope.

10 year old Negi Springfield traversed outside looking for the hotel his friend was supposedly staying in. He had just arrived more than several hours ago after a long, nearly 12 hour flight. He got a call not too long ago that he was to meet him at the lobby and bring over several items that he requested. After several months of teaching and having to deal with nymphomaniacal students, a raging redhead roommate, a sinister vampire, a giant golem in the bowels of Library Island, and quite a number of other supernatural disorders, he received a letter from his sister requesting that he return to Wales to deal with a critical matter that just occurred regarding his long, lost father, Nagi. Negi was also told that his friend who had been residing in the academy since his arrival would be flying over to meet him about this. Oddly, his friend was not told why he was being sent over, apparently they want it to keep it surprise for him. Nekane always did have a way to get on his friends nerves from time to time.

'_Oh, will he be surprised…'_ Negi thought as he roamed the wet streets.

He finally spotted the place and went inside, shaking the cold water off his coat and rubbing his hands together for warmth. The hotel he just entered in his point of view was quite lovely.

A traditional Japanese, wooden bridge over a koi pond and a miniature-sized waterfall with several small ancient statues on the left, the bridge connected the lobby to the sitting room where guests can sit and relax and have a drink at the pub nearby. Negi crossed the little bridge hoping to find his friend waiting for him somewhere at the tables. He searched around until he found a figure whom he recognized sitting lonely in the corner with a small glass of coke on the table.

He walks over, putting on his most friendly smile in which made many of his students back at the school squeal over. He stood next to the lone one, who didn't seem to notice him, apparently deep in his own thoughts.

"Hello," Negi said pleasantly.

The loner looked up and saw the boy whom he didn't see in several months that was smiling down at him. His glasses gleamed in the dim light in the room as he sized up the young teacher.

"Hey," he responded blandly. "Long time no see," he added, going back to take a sip of his drink.

"Yes, it certainly has," Negi answered, taking a seat at the table where he sat face-to-face with his friend. He still had his friendly face on, yet his friend stared at him with almost a dead look in his eyes, yet he could see a glint of relaxation of seeing his friend after all these months after leaving his home after graduating. Negi couldn't see his face very well mostly because he was silhouetted in the darkness. However he was able to make out the curved thick-lens glasses that took up a small portion of his face

"So how was your trip?" Negi asked, trying to start up a little small talk.

"It was all right," he friend sighed, "however I couldn't get enough sleep, I'm so tired I swore I saw something sitting on the wing of the plane," he said monotonously, trying to describe his jet-lag.

Negi gave small child-like chuckle. Even though it didn't seem like it, his friend always did have a great sense of humor.

"How's the academy treating you these days?" he asked.

"All right, apart from the fact that some of your school-mates tried to perform some hexes on me as if I was their magical guinea pig," he replied slightly begrudgingly.

"So what's new?" he asked looking at the young teacher, then realization struck on his face and remembered the little "favor" he had to ask of his friend.

"W-well…" he stuttered, "You know of my current assignment of teaching at Mahora Acadamy in order to achieve my status as a Master Mage," he explained.

His friend nodded his head, yet he didn't like what path this conversation was taking.

"You see, the reason you've been sent here by the academy is because I received a letter from my sister regarding something critical about my…f-father." he said, uttering 'father' at the end.

"And--?" his friend asked, with his eyebrow slightly cocked.

"Well, since I must leave for this, I can't leave my students without an English teacher, so I was hoping you…" he paused looking down a moment as if embarrassed then looking back up at his friend's face whose eyes lowered in disbelief.

"So you want me to sub for you for a while when you're gone?" he finished for the young mage.

"Um, well, y-yes," he utters.

Light suddenly flashed through the rain smeared windows, reflecting off his friend's eyeglasses followed by the growling of the thunder, making Negi flinch not just from the sound of the thunder, but mostly from the ominous look it gave his friend when the light glared from his glasses. It was impossible to see his friend's eyes whenever his glasses glowed from the light. His friend however, kept a straight face and simply stared at his friend before saying…

"Did you tell your students about this?" he asked, making Negi flashback to earlier today when he made the so-called bomb-dropping announcement to the class of 2-A. He explained the little story to his friend in specific detail.

* * *

"Everyone, may I have your attention please?" Negi called out of his class making all eyes present in the classroom go straight to their teacher.

"Before we begin today's lesson, I have a little announcement to make regarding the next few months," he said.

The class blinked and muttered to each other in confusion and curiosity as to what their professor wanted to say.

"I have received an urgent matter from my home in Wales which requires my full attention, which means that I will be gone for the next several months of this semester," he announced.

In response, almost the entire class gasped and widened their eyes in shock of their teacher's announcement of temporary leave, the others merely sat, nonplussed. The class representative, Ayaka Yukihiro stood up with unshed tears in her eyes and asked her crush in a pitiful and pleading voice.

"But, _why_?" she implored "what is it that's so important that involves you being taken away from us for so long?"

Some of the girls followed suit and voiced their own questions.

Negi replied, "it's something of a personal matter, but don't worry I won't be gone too long,"

"_Why is he announcing this today? How come he never told me about it?" _the ever-so suspicious Asuna Kagurazaka questioned.

Wanting to know a little info, Asuna raised her hand and asked, "So…who will take over the class while you're gone?" Her eyes suddenly gleamed with hope and excitement, "will it be Professor Takahata?" she squealed to him, drawing a few moans of chagrin from her classmates.

A drop of sweat appeared on his head as he answered,"Um, no, sorry." making Asuna drop to her desk and pout with absolute dismay.

His face lightened up, "however, I have asked a dear friend of mine to take over during my leave of absence," "He's extremely intelligent and I'm quite sure he'll be more than able to take my position."

Apart from looks of skepticism and dismay from most of the students whom have already adjusted to Negi, some of them chattered with intrigue about the new teacher who is coming to teach them. Soon, several questions came his way regarding his friend.them.

"So what is your friend like?" one of them asked.

"Where did he get his education?"

"Is he as cute as you are?"

Negi flushed after that question, "Well, from what I remember, he has a master's degree from Princeton University," he explained, even though this is absolutely false.

"Princeton University! That's the top-tier school in America!" Lingshen Chao exclaimed.

"So that means he must be a super genius like you Professor!" Makie said while giving the child a "light" punch to the arm.

A dismayed and sullen Nodoka Miyazaki, saddened with her teacher's announcement upon short notice, asked in a timid voice, "So when will you be leaving Professor?"

"I'll be leaving tomorrow," Negi explained. The girls gasped and let out strained sobs upon hearing this last-minute announcement.

"But not to worry, I'll be fine, and I'm leaving you in good hands, he's a very nice and caring person, and I hope you will show him the same respect and appreciation that you have shown me," Negi says, drawing some blushes from the girls.

"Well, any good friend of yours is a good friend of ours!" Ayaka declared. He runs to Negi and holds his hand between hers and says in a royal fashion, "I'll follow him honorably as I have followed you!"

Negi gives her a sheepish smile and says, "Well, thank you Ayaka," he clears his throat and says, "I'm sure he'll appreciate you."

"Somewhat…" Asuna grumbles under her breath.

"Hey, Professor?" a voice shouted. All heads turned to Fumika Narutaki, ½ of the pink haired twins in the class.

"Yes, Fumika, do you have a question?"

"Since you're leaving professor why don't we throw you a 'going-away' party tomorrow!" Fumika suggested emphatically.

The girls cheered in unison on how great the idea sounded.

"Um, uh, w-well…" Negi stuttered, as all eyes were on him, waiting for an answer.

After several grueling seconds, he put on a nervous smile and answered, "all right!"

"YAY!" the girls cheered as they started making talks on how to prepare the party, while some of the girls ran forward and started hugging Negi, sobbing to him on how much they're going to miss him and all that.

Meanwhile, unaware to Negi, two individuals in the back have somewhat different reactions as to the sudden announcement. Young-appearing Evangeline McDowell had a surprised yet quizzical look, wondering what "wizard" will be taking over for Negi.

The other, Chisame Hasegawa, seemed calm. She was a bit ambivalent with what reaction she should take. Should she be jumping for joy for having a break from dating with weirdness? Or should she take precaution with this new teacher whom Negi knew? For Negi's sake, his friend had better be normal.

Meanwhile in the midst of being hugged and cried on, Negi thought, _'He's not going to like this…'_

* * *

When Negi finished his story, his friend just stared at him with the look Negi was anticipating.

'_I was right'_ the diminutive boy thought.

"You told them I'm a graduate from Princeton?" he asked in a serious tone. "Do you know how much trouble I will be in if it is revealed that my 'so-called' graduate records are false?" he added.

"Oh, don't worry," Negi assured,"the Dean of the Academy is a very good friend of the Headmaster's so he's fully aware of the situation and several of the teachers there are mages like myself, so I believe you're in the clear."

The traveler just stared at him for a while, bowed his head for a minute and then looked back up at him with a slight chuckle.

"Well ain't this a kick in the ass?" he stated bluntly, "maybe you haven't noticed, but…I don't think I'm teaching material."

"Nonsense!" Negi exclaimed, "You are more well than qualified, you've shown to have an exceedingly high level of intelligence, you're strong, you're diligent, you're a rather quick thinker, your expertise in the supernatural far excels beyond that of anyone I've ever known," he described, "after all this time I've known you, I'm surprised that you would doubt your own abilities."

"It's not my abilities that I'm skeptical of," his friend explained. "It's my ability to handle thirty-one schoolgirls who are about three years younger than me," he said with slight disdain in his voice. "They might label me as a letch or a pedophile the minute I step in the classroom," he says.

"Not to worry," Negi assured, "they're really, really nice people, possibly the nicest people whom I've ever met in my life," he says. _'With the exception of Asuna,'_ he quickly runs through his mind.

"Though, I must warn you," Negi continues, "they can be quite…eccentric," he says.

"How so?" his friend questioned.

"You'll see when you get there," Negi stated. He could tell on his friend's face, that he did seem not very keen on the idea.

Negi then put his hands together in a pleading sort of gesture, "Please, I need your help, I don't know what sort of dangers might await upon my students and I deeply care for them, you're the only one I know who possesses the kind of knowledge that will be able to protect them," he implores.

His friend still just stares at him.

"I'm grateful for how much you've helped me to get me to where I am today, and in return I've supplied you with all the knowledge I had to help you what you've been looking for. But I really need you to do this one favor for me, please take care of my class, they've been the best thing that have happened to me," he asks giving him his cute eyes.

His friend still looked unmoved.

"Think about it," he says, "isn't it part of your belief to care for the innocent?" he asks of his friend.

The traveler scoffed, he hated it when his little friend had to bring up his religion. He then went into a pensive sort of state, he thought back on all the compassion he had showed to others during his journey. Compassion was a majestic quality that was still with him, which sparked love between him and others. _'So I did lots of favors for him, one more can't hurt,' _he thinks. He also recalled the hard life the poor boy had to go through, never knowing his father, the so-called _'Thousand Master'_, and this was the only opportunity for him to find his father or know what happened to him. He had a thing about fathers that he could relate to, recalling the horrible event in his childhood in his own world, but that's another story. What mattered most is that Negi, his new friend, needed his help, and what could happen? It could possibly bring him one step closer to his goal. Besides, he needed a break chasing demons and such and resisting the big bastard of Hell himself.

"All right, I'll sub for you," the traveler says.

A grateful smile spreads over the young wizard's face as he grabs his friend's hand shaking it vigorously while saying, "Thank you! Thank you! I'm so grateful for your help!"

The traveler just looked at Negi, slightly irked by the way the boy was shaking his arm.

"So when do I begin?"

"The day after tomorrow, I'll tell the dean of your acceptance and have him arrange of a room for you."

"All right," his friend says, taking one last sip of the Coke, leaving nothing but ice and a lemon wedge at the bottom. Suddenly, he something sparked in his mind that required for him to ask Negi of something.

"But, what will I do if anybody finds out about my…'gifts'?" he asks.

"Only several of the faculty members know of me, my academy and your affiliation with us. And a student of mine…well knows my secret." Negi says with some embarrassment at the end.

His friend slowly shut his eyes. He KNEW that the kid couldn't put them off forever.

"I'll be in so much trouble if anybody finds out, so PLEASE don't tell anyone!" Negi pleads to him.

"I won't if you won't," his friend replied.

"Grand. Now here's a map of the school, you'll need to report to the dean's office before we can begin." Negi instructs handing him a folded map of Mahora. "You might need it, it's quite big."

His friend nods, "Anything else?" the young mage asks.

"You wouldn't happen to have the…" his friend asks before Negi realizes what he's talking about and starts scrambling in the bag to take out the items he wanted, setting them on the table. Beakers and vials of eel saliva, pig bile, powdered duck feet, scorpion's tails, spider's eyebrows and several other peculiar, yet necessary ingredients for Taoist Chi spells his friend practices.

Negi then takes out a copper-plated, cone-shaped flask with a lid screwed in tight. "Here's some of the dragon's breath you requested," Negi says.

"I thought you couldn't get it anymore."

Negi shrugged modestly. "Well, I have my contacts."

He then took out a bottle of blood red liquid with his hands around it with extra caution, as if the bottle would explode or something. The glass the red liquid was in looked about a centimeter thick and the stopper was screwed tight to prevent any of the fumes from leaving.

"Here's the alchemic water you wanted," handing the beaker to his friend who stared at the crimson fluid.

"Perfect."

"Are you sure you want to have another go at it?" Negi asked precariously "Remember the last time you tried to crystallize it, the entire academy's laboratory had to be vacated for over a week." He said.

"So, I might have been off a few Kelvins, but not to worry, I'm going to let it go slow and steady." his friend said.

Despite being skeptic of the traveler's confidence, Negi decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. To his knowledge, nobody else knows more about alchemy than the young stranger sitting across from him.

"If you say so," Negi shrugged. "I'll ask the Dean if you can make use of the school's laboratory."

"Thanks."

"Anything else?" The boy asked, preparing to close up the bag.

The stranger bowed his head.

"You wouldn't happen to have any of the—"

Realizing what his friend was going to ask for, Negi quickly dug through the bag and took out a medium sized bottle containing his grandfather's specially formulated cough syrup.

Holding out the bottle to him, Negi smiles and says, "On the house."

Taking the bottle, the stranger slightly returns the smile.

"Thanks Neg, see you at school."

Finally, the young mage and the mysterious mystic parted ways, both wondering and hoping that things will go, even in the least, as smooth as possible.

* * *

_The next morning…_

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

An alarm blares out, before a small hand slams down on the snooze button to silence the annoying waking call. A lonely girl clad in magenta pajamas with long, thick, gorgeous forest green hair slips out of her bed with a grumble as she dons her round glasses to ready herself for another day in school. Unlike most other mornings, Chisame Hasegawa seemed to be in a lighter mood, since she knows that after today, she will be given a break from having to deal with the craziness going on in her class, caused by (in her view) the pre-adolescent Welsh boy who acts as her English teacher. While doing her daily routine, she imagines how relaxing it would be of not having to put up with his boorish sessions for the time being.

She leaves her dorm, locks the door, and walks down to the train stop, joining the crowds of girls awaiting the ride to school. She tries her best to ignore the gossips from the other students, yammering about cute guys and pop culture and the flavor of their lip-gloss. The train finally arrives as she and everyone else gets on board. She slumps in her seat as the train moves. She then opens and activates her laptop, deciding to make an entry into her virtual diary during the trip.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today has got to be one of the best days of my life! That little twerp of a teacher is finally leaving for a while! Finally, I'll have some peace and quiet, which is if his so-called friend will give it to me. It's fine time that a change happened, I guess there's a God after all. The last thing I need right now is a conceited, snot-nosed, little know-it-all who's about three years younger than me and teaching me life's lessons and all that crap…_

She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts as a deep, yet young voice asked her, "Excuse me, mind if I sit here?"

The young teen girl immediately looks up at the source of the voice and finds the owner of that voice someone that she would least expect at Mahora or on the train. She was staring up to the face of an extremely tall young man who looked about the age of a college student, yet the babyish youth in his face said otherwise. Speaking of his face, it was long and smooth, almost as if it was shaped by an angel. He had slanted and narrow mysterious dark eyes hidden behind a pair of wide angular glasses with smooth, curved edges and sleek frames. His hair was pure raven-black, and not long, but enough to drape over a portion of the sides of his head. To Chisame, it seemed a bit reminiscent of the hairstyle of the legendary martial artist, Bruce Lee, and the hairstyles of the pictures of American "Emo" kids she saw in modeling magazines. His bangs were long, apparently long enough to conceal his eyes like curtains, which seemed to give the stranger in front of her all the more reason to comb them to the side of his forehead. The top of his head had numerous small strands of hair sticking out in an unruly fashion, indicating that he did a pretty poor job at brushing his hair and neglected to use hair gel. His chest and shoulders were very broad, about the broadest of any boy that she's ever seen. Even though the suit made himself look bigger, he actually seemed very lean. But unknowingst to her, there's more to the story of what's underneath his clothes. For his clothes, he wore a neatly pressed black suit with a matching black tie and a white dress shirt, giving him an impression of one of those intimidating American secret service agents.

In his hand he held alarge, classic-looking,attache suitcase, attached to his back was a bulging black knapsack and slung over his shoulder was a grey computer satchel. His ethnicity seemed Chinese, yet his skin was sickly pale. Needless to say, she was mystified by the presence of, in her opinion, an incredibly handsome young man who's on a train en route to one of Japan's top tier boarding schools.

Snapping out of her brief stupor, she said to him, "No, go ahead."

"Thanks," he said, sitting down next to her.

She continued typing into her computer giving a few quick glances to the boy next to her, who was just simply staring off into space. She made no mention of him in her diary, yet couldn't resist glancing at him one more time, just to see his handsome face. So again, she stares at him and them briefly looks at her surroundings before shifting her attention back to the guy. He seemed to be ignoring the looks of interest all the other girls aboard the train were giving him.

The newcomer slightly turned his head and noticed her staring at him. They exchanged stares, sizing each other up. Neither of the two could see the other's eyes as the morning light from the windows shone against their glasses. After a few nanoseconds Chisame was suddenly taken aback by the stranger's stony gaze. Even though his glasses are smaller than hers, his completely shields his straight and narrow eyes in the same manner her round glasses cover her own. The effect of the light glaring against the glass of the lenses made him look unquestionably intimidating, let alone clandestine. Realizing, that she is ogling at him, she quickly shifts her attention back to the laptop screen, typing furiously as the blush radiating on her cheeks. With a slight shrug, the tall young man went back to his gazing off into space.

After what felt like forever, but in reality ten minutes, the train arrived at its final destination, opening the doors for all of the schoolgirls to get out. She stood and he stood, exchanging one final glance at each other before going through the doors. As she walked to the academy, Chisame stared at the stranger walking away from her, in the direction in what seemed to be the faculty building.

'_I wonder what a guy is doing here?' _she thought. _'I thought the boys' division was a stop ahead.'_

That thought repeated in her head over and over as the image of the gigantic young Chinese man in the black suit with the chiseled face stuck in her mind like peanut butter. She quickly shook them out of her head with an 'oh well' shrug and marched over to her homeroom class. In her mind, maybe that guy got off too early.

* * *

The entire class was gathered together in the classroom, waiting in anticipation for their two teachers. Ayaka, in her power as class-rep, ordered that a going-away party be thrown for Negi as it is his last day before he returns to the U.K. At the same time it was to be a welcoming party for the new friend of Negi's who will be subbing for him in his absence. A perfect show of good faith to any good friend of Negi's they all said. Soon, their young teacher entered the classroom with a pleasant look on his face. They stood at attention and greeted him with their usual bow and, "Good morning, Professor," before seating themselves.

"Good morning," he pleasantly replied. "Well, today will be my last day before I take my leave back to England," he says drawing sad looks from the class.

'_Good riddance'_ thought Chisame as she retains a smile trying to creep onto her face.

"For today, I will be introducing to you my friend who will be teaching you for the next several months, he will observe the class while we do our lessons," Negi explains.

He then turns to the sliding door and holds his arm out, "Please welcome your new teacher all the way from America!" he announces.

The sliding door then opens and in came a person who stood at a height that near reached the top of the doorway. The class ogled at the over 6 foot college-age looking professor that walked in the room. Chisame then froze when she saw the new teacher who entered; it was the very same Chinese boy whom she met on the bus this morning! The one with glasses, black hair, a long, incredibly handsome face, a physique that is considered a giant's in Japanese standards, and the same neatly pressed black suit with the black tie. She stared at him with more amazement and curiosity than anyone else in the room combined. Everyone was in awe of the tall teenager that was their new teacher present in front of them.

He sizes the class up with his empty ebony eyes through his glasses. His eyes darted here to there observing the different physical qualities each girl possessed. He suddenly spotted the girl with green hair and glasses in the back of the room and instantly recognized her as well. His mouth slightly opens and eyes shift to surprise as he once-again encounters this…nerdy, yet lovely cutie in the back row. They stared at each other from quite a distance from the room with a feeling inside both of them as if time stopped.

'_That girl'_ he thought in his mind, before immediately snapping back into reality with Chisame doing the same.

He puts on his stoic face and speaks to the class in his deep voice that seemed to make all of the girls' hearts skip a beat or two.

"Good morning," he says, "my name is Leigh Constantine, I will be your English teacher for Professor Springfield. It is a pleasure to be here." he said before taking a light bow.

'_Like the Roman emperor?' _Chisame thought remembering that name from her history studies.

The entire setting was completely quiet, not an 'eep' escaped from any of the girls' throats as they marveled their new teacher's size, looks, and youth each of them contemplating on what move they should take.

Leigh could feel some sort of exciting vibration building up in the room, yet he couldn't quite put his finger to as if how the girls would react.

The little boy who looked up to the young man as an elder brother stood next to him, sweat starting to form from his pores. It was evident that he was apprehensive of what was coming, as he immediately recalled his experience when he first introduced himself.

"_5…4…3…2…"_ Negi counted silently to himself, awaiting what was about to happen.

Then…

"**EEEEE! HE'S SO CUTE!"** screamed out more than half of the class as they erupted from their seats and ecstatically ambushed their new teacher like a pack of ravaging wolves would upon their prey. They stood rather closely around him with sparking eyes, rosy cheeks, and squeals of excitement as if his was some sort of hot young celebrity. Some, however, didn't hesitate to fondle him like they did to their poor little professor.

Constantine could only look on flabbergasted as one of them draped their arms over his shoulder and started to feel up on his broad chest, a girl on each side grasping his triceps feeling his bulging muscles, and two pink-haired twins gripped onto his long legs squeezing them tight. Negi seemed embarrassed yet amused upon witnessing his friend experiencing the exact same treatment he received when he first arrived. Constantine was at a loss of words and thought of how the female gender could be so affectionate.

"You never told us your friend was such a hunk!" one of Negi's students said to him.

Negi nervously put his arm behind his head and looked back at his new colleague with a smile, "Well, he likes to keep to himself, and he's much too humble."

Soon, the new teacher who announced himself as 'Leigh Constantine' found himself pressed with questions from his students.

"How old are you?"

"Where do you come from?"

"How tall are you?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"If not, are you looking for one?"

Judging by the lack of blood in his face, he wasn't as easy to fluster as their Professor Springfield.

"Now, now, let's behave ourselves," Negi said, "Mr. Constantine here will be observing our class for today, so he'll have a chance to get to know you all before I leave tomorrow." he stated.

The girls went back to their seats while Constantine walked over to Negi and whispered curtly, "You should've warned me."

"I _did_, Leigh," replied Negi.

Slightly rolling his eyes, Leigh Constantine took a seat at the desk off to the side of the blackboard and watched Negi begin the lesson for today. Meanwhile, in the back of the room, a certain green-haired girl with glasses was seething with frustration upon witnessing of who the friend of Professor Negi was and who would be taking over the class for the next several weeks.

"_My God, what is this world COMING TO! I can't believe our next teacher who is going to be our sub for the next few months is going to be a-a GIANT who looks several years older than us! Look at him, COME ON! That guy would probably be this kind of asshole who'll go into our rooms and do you-know-what to us in our sleep! Damn Negi, that pipsqueak is going to get one hell of a thrashing when he gets back!" _she screamed mentally while clutching her fists so hard her knuckles started to whiten, making a crackling sound and her loose strand of hair constricting in sync with her irate mood. She lifted her head at darted her eyes at the young man in the black suit who is sitting quaintly at the teacher's desk, the sunlight from the windows glaring against his glasses. She narrows her eyes at him in anger despite him not noticing.

"_Look at him, sitting so calmly at his desk. Who knows what the pervert is thinking? I should've known when I first saw him on the train!" _she ranted in her mind.

* * *

Back to the front of the room, Leigh calmly watches his diminutive associate stand on top of a fancy-looking footstool writing the topic on the board. He announces that they will be focusing on American literature today. Hmm, seems appropriate, being that he _was_ from the US. But apparently, people aren't thinking so highly of the US of this world because of a certain situation in the Middle East that he read about. Oddly, it was happening in quite a handful in some of the worlds that he's visited. Hell must be running a tight schedule to have those sort of conflicts ignite in some of the contemporary worlds. That's typically how the world would fall to pieces.

Well, it's nothing compared to what happened back in his universe. Digressing back, his eyes went to all thirty-one girls in the room sitting at their desks, obediently attentive to their teacher…well relatively attentive. He caught quite a few pairs of eyes that were staring back at him who immediately turned away as he made eye contact with them. From what he could tell, they were looking at him as if thought they wanted to eat him. And he **doesn't** mean literally. Guess it was rare for a gargantuan Chinese-American boy to be in an all-girls boarding school.

Suddenly, his psychic senses detected several supernatural entities present in the room. He slightly dilated his psychic irises to at least get a glimpse of what they could be. He looked to his right to find what appeared to be ghostly-girl sitting at the front desk next to Kazumi Asakura. He angled his glasses down a bit to get a clearer view. She seemed to have long, silvery-blue hair and red eyes and she donned a sailor uniform as opposed to the burgundy school uniforms all the other girls were wearing. It didn't really surprise him to see a ghost, much less one of a little girl. He saw plenty of souls who roamed the Earth, some of whom tried to tangle with him. In return, he deported their ethereal asses back to the Netherealm itself. Yet she didn't seem hostile at all, she actually bore an aura of sorrow from isolation and loneliness. Poor girl, it's beyond sad that she never got the opportunity to life her life to the fullest. Now she's cursed to endlessly roaming the world. That's mortality for you.

He then shifted his eyes, looking for the other supernatural presence in the room. He finally spotted an aura emanating from a blond haired girl that sat in the far left corner desk of the classroom. The aura didn't seem very much like human, however many beasts are capable of masking their true spiritual essence with that of a human's. He tried to observe the girl despite the fact she was so far away. She seemed Caucasian, with albino skin as if she lived in the Artic, she had mysterious green eyes, and the body which seemed not that of a teenager's. From what he could tell, she seemed to be Negi's age, and for some reason, looking at that girl reminded him of that bastard vampire clad in red he faced a long time ago in Great Britain, in a universe far, far away. Well, he'll have the opportunity to get to know each and every one of them when the time comes, especially if it's something that departs them from being normal. Then again in his point of view and all the things he's seen, there's absolutely no such thing as 'normal'.

Then he felt something impure, something that he hoped he didn't feel. He felt a certain essence of a dark energy that originates from the plane of the damned. An ominous force emanating from the unruly mask of human skin, it could only mean one thing…_half-breed._

Mentally groaning to himself, he moved his glasses down to the tip of his nose and tuned up his True Sight to get a clearer view of who this miserable half-twat is. Scanning with near-clear vision, he found the essence of the demon energy originating from that of a stern-faced girl with brown eyes and navy-violet hair, with a spiky sort of ponytail tied to one side. Then something surprised him. It wasn't the fact that the half-breed took the appearance of a cute-looking girl such as herself, but that her true demonic appearance wasn't one with reptilian, cadaverous skin or a skeletal, bestial face. She actually bore two majestic dove-white wings stretching out from her chair, something that he's never seen from a half-demon. Despite her supposed appearance of a half-angel, she's not, she human, cursed by carrying the blood of one of the scavengers of the damned. He'll need to keep an eye on this girl; she possesses pretty potent spiritual energy.

The teenage swordswoman suddenly got a glimpse of the new teacher staring at her. Fortunately he managed to get back to staring off into space before she made visual-contact with him.

Staring at the tall guy with a quizzical look for a while, she merely shrugged and shifted her attention back to the lesson at hand.

Going back to his thoughts, he certainly has a big responsibility in his hands, taking care and educating thirty-one girls plus that surly ermine of Negi's. Not only that, but he had to keep the class average up to the Dean's appeal. He soon recalls his meeting with Dean Konoemon Konoe, a very pleasant fellow with a long white beard and thick eyebrows hiding his beady little eyes, one can interpret that he holds a great deal of wisdom.

Leigh also met Professor Takamichi Takahata, Negi's predecessor, a man with a kind and friendly face who bore glasses, a frosted haircut, and a stubble beard. Typically, he was another nice adult whom the newbie teacher was taller than. As he shook the elder's hand, he felt strong astral energy flow from his colleague's firm grip. An energy that was a mix of an eastern and western mage, probably a special sort of magical technique this man uses. Apparently, this man was much more than he looked, he'll have to tread carefully around him.

He was then introduced to the gorgeous school nurse and counselor who acts as Negi's advisor as well as his own, Ms. Shizuna Minamoto. Aqua hair, glasses, and very large pair of 'assets', one of the largest that the substitute has ever seen throughout his travels. It was a challenge keeping a straight face while she was shaking her hand and complimenting you on your 'handsomeness'. But nonetheless, he was absolutely no "pervert".

Negi explained to his superiors that Constantine will be more than qualified to take over for him. The boy said that if hadn't met the young man, he wouldn't have graduated from Merdiana Magic Academy, let alone come to Mahora.

It was no problem helping a ten-year old wizard in trying to achieve the status of a Master Mage in a world where magic and everything supernatural is kept hidden. Locked inside that occultist's brain was a plethora of arcane knowledge that would take about a dozen genius scholars their whole lives to learn. When he came across witchcraft and wizardry, it was no problem. Even though his religion forbade it that totally didn't stop the rebel from learning it. It was at that point on, the boy started to look up to the much older one as if he was a big brother.

'_That was a first.'_ Constantine thought in his mind, remembering the "brotherly" leisures the two did back in Wales.

He remembered the day he first met Negi.

He was walking nonchalantly through the Welsh forest when he found the boy being surrounded by a group of dark wizards who seemed to have a grudge against his father, "The Thousand Master", and were obviously planning on ending the bloodline once and for all.

Being the kind of guy who hates, no, DESPISES bullies, Constantine negated their magical attacks and opened a nice can of whoop-ass on those stupid pricks. He didn't let them go off before telekinetically sending them out of the forest trees.

After all was fought and done, he caught the usual bewildered look on Negi's face. Completely floored on how the stranger could take out a gang of dark wizards with just fists, paper, and a strong telekinetic force.

Despite him being a stolid, yet compassionate S.O.B., he felt a shred of guilt of keeping so much from the innocent little boy. There was truly more to the young man that everyone in the world knows.

Even though he had to hide the fact that's actually an occultist, not a Princeton U graduate from the students and non-magically aware faculty, he had much more to worry about.

He neglected to tell the Dean, Negi, his sister, and everybody he's met so far in the past several months, is that he has no national identity. Actually he has no identity period in **this** particular universe. No birth certificate, no social security number, just a fake license and a fake document recognizing him as a legal adult.

If any federal group caught him and tried search for his personal profile in the universal database, the only thing they would find are the words, "**NOT FOUND.**"

He's been grateful that Negi's magic academy offered him shelter, with no questions asked. They did it as a "thank you" for rescuing one of their top and most gifted pupils.

Although, there were some, who were curious of his origins, such as Negi himself, his sister, Nekane, the Merdiana Academy headmaster, that mischievous white ermine, Albert Chamomile, as well as a few magisters within the school.

However, after he demonstrated his prowess in magic in front of the wizarding community, their suspicious thoughts must have slipped. Well, most of them anyway.

Either way, he still has to put up with the challenge of hiding his true identity and purpose of his inter-dimensional travels. He's had an experience of lying, cheating, forging, and stealing his way out of trouble. He's a conned man in many parallel worlds. He's tripped the line quite a number of times, and on one occasion he finally got caught for it.

Going back to reality, Constantine's eye suddenly catches the sight of one green haired, ponytailed, glasses-wearing girl in the center-back of the room, who for some reason was glowering at him rather than paying attention to her teacher's lecture. Catching her unpleasant gaze, he returned with a stony, unperturbed stare.

Chisame's face suddenly reddened at the most his gaze met hers, her eyes widening in surprise for a split second before shifting back to their usual near-angry look.

Negi, catching wind of his friend staring back at Chisame, angled his face in view of the girl's irritated visage.

"Miss Hasegawa, is there something wrong?"

Every class member shifted theirs heads towards Chisame, noticing that she's seems more moody than usual.

With her face reddening from the sudden attention she's receiving, she answers.

"N-no, nothing's wrong, sorry."

"Alright, then." Negi shifting his attention back to the class textbook, with the class following suit to their own.

The occultist at the desk merely arched an eyebrow at the girl's reaction.

'_What in Hell's bathroom is her problem?'_

This is going to be an interesting job, indeed.

**To Be Continued…**

A/N: I've cleaned up the chapter, maybe a few grammatical mistakes here and there, but what can you do? Leave reviews if you please.


	2. First Time, First Serve

A/N: I know you all were disappointed in my depiction of my character's fight with the dark mages, but I was just too lazy to make it specific, and I didn't think it would be all that important. Not to worry, in future chapters, the battles will be their main basis, which will make this story become "M". And regarding my writing style of jumping from past to present tense, that's exactly what I'm aiming for, in fact some writers do that. I also made some corrections in the first chapter.

Disclaimer still stands. I claim ownership of my OC and nothing else.

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**Chapter 2: First Time, First Serve**

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As homeroom period was completed, Negi escorted the new teacher named Leigh Constantine to the Teachers' Office. The moment they left the room, the class immediately went into chatters of how they should prepare a certain surprise for their two teachers. One particular girl, however, chose NOT to participate in the discussion as usual. Chisame merely brooded in her seat, not participating in any of her class's activities as usual. Her usual plainly bored face was now contorted with pure cantankerousness.

"_This really sucks…"_ she griped

As they arrived, Constantine met more of the staff members and teachers, including Mr. Nitta, an algebra teacher and Director of External Activities, or to put it the school's Disciplinarian. Even though Nitta seemed impressed by Constantine's unique stature and unnerving personality, Constantine couldn't help but feel…unpleasantness when he's around this man. From what Negi told him, Nitta forces students into a painful squatting position when they get out of line. The students have so despised his methods that they've given him a nickname, "Nitta the Ogre".

"_Well, it's better than being beaten by rulers or shocked by cattle prods," _Constantine thought by recalling the history of earlier schools.

After the introductions with Negi's colleagues, the little boy handed to him a yearbook of Mahora's Female Middle School students. He revealed Class 2A's page showing the faces of all thirty-one girls. Next to several of the students' pictures, small notes were scribbled down by both Negi and Professor Takahata, listing their special traits. Negi gave vivid detail about each girl that Constantine observed.

His eyes examined each picture, analyzing their physical features. He spotted a picture of a girl with orange hair tied in twin ponytails and heterochromic eyes, and the little add-ons made with a black marker. It seemed that Negi scrawled two horns on the top of her head but then scribbled it out and wrote the words, "Actually a good person" over her picture.

Constantine gave Negi a small look with his eyes, which made the little boy avert his gaze.

Back to the yearbook, the new teacher continued examining each girl. He spotted the pictures of the two pink-haired twins who hugged his legs earlier today. Constantine suddenly felt a cringing sensation in his chest as he recognized their striking similarities. It was a harsh reminder of something in his dark, unmentioned past.

After going over twenty-four of the girls he finally found the picture of the green-haired girl he met earlier this morning.

"'_Chisame Hasegawa', not a bad name,"_ he thought.

He read the two notes scribbled under her name. "Good with computers," and "No club activities," they stated.

As he read the notes and examined the blank look on Chisame's face in the picture, Constantine suddenly had the feeling as if he was looking at himself. Glasses, stony demeanor, technical, yet tedious hobby, and no social activities whatsoever, those traits all fit into him like pieces of a puzzle.

Soon, the bell rang signaling lunch period, so Negi and Constantine decided to take their meal outside. Constantine was taken aback by the majestic scenery around him. To his knowledge, not a lot of schools in the world had such an elaborate campus, but then again what would HE know, he's never been to middle school, let alone high school or college.

Anyway, they decided to eat out on the plains under a willow tree. Negi was more than happy to share a boxed lunch that Konoka prepared for him this morning before they left. As he took the first bite of the food his student made, Constantine had one thing in mind as the flavor interacted with his tongue.

"_It's good, it's damn good."_

As they ate and talked, they heard a faint ringing sound, which sounded like tiny bells. Finding out where the sound was coming from, the new teacher spotted a red-headed girl who stood about 5 feet and 2 inches with double ponytails tied by red ribbons with small bells attached. The same one he read about in the class yearbook, and she was marching to their location.

"'_Asuna Kagurazaka'"_ Constantine identifies.

Negi looks up and also sees the said girl walking towards them. As she arrives, Negi puts on a smile.

"Oh, Asuna. What can we do for you?"

She puts an arm behind her head scratching the back with her fingers in a sort of sheepish manner. With an innocent sort of smile she answers, "I was wondering if you've got some time to talk for a bit."

Negi looked back at his taller and older companion, who gave him a nod signaling him to go with her.

Getting up on his two short legs, Negi hands him the lunch box, telling him that he can finish the rest. He then walks away with Asuna, who stopped for a second to give the new teacher a glance before walking off.

It might have been just a hunch, but Constantine might have seen a hint of, eh, iffiness gleaming in those mismatched irises of hers. Also, for some reason, that girl made him feel pretty…scruffy, but then again most girls do.

He went back to munching on the delectable food his preadolescent friend gave him. Yet he still has that same feeling he's had for the longest time, the feeling that he's being watched by someone.

…

Indeed he was being watched. In a considerable distance, a lone girl observed the lone figure eating under the tree. Her long golden locks were waving in the gentle wind, her emerald green eyes gleaming in the sunlight, and a sinister sort of smile slowly forming on her pale face.

* * *

Meanwhile with Negi and Asuna, the latter quickly abandons her shy act and takes on her usual scarily serious attitude. It's the usual behavior that says that the hot-tempered young lady wants something from the poor boy. They were in a secluded area of the campus where they wouldn't be spotted, and good distance from anyone who might want to listen in.

Asuna had her arms akimbo, her eyebrows arched down in an angry sort of position. Apprehension was broiling in Negi's stomach. He's obviously worried at what the girl will do to him, recalling the events of their first encounter. Sweat started seep out of his pores and saliva began to fill his mouth, which made him have to swallow.

"S-s-so , what c-can I do for y-you, As-suna?" the preadolescent stammered. He's usually the solemn victim of Asuna's raves, so it's not unusual for him (or anybody else) to be scared of the heterochromatic-eyed young lady.

"All right, runt," she declared calmly, yet authoritatively. "I want to know everything there is to know about your friend."

She suddenly gets in his face before he gets the chance to respond.

"Who is he? Where did he come from? What does he do? Is he some kind of a pervert? How do you know you can trust him with us? Huh? Speak up!" she shot out.

"Now please Asuna calm down!" Negi pleads. "I'll explain!"

Asuna backs off, but still keeping her stern eyes transfixed upon the little boy.

He takes a deep breath, trying to release all of the tension the scary girl filled him with.

"Now to explain your last question, yes, I completely trust him with you. He's definitely not the kind of wicked person you see him as."

Asuna just narrows her eyes and angles her eyebrows lower.

"Honest!" Negi yelped, "From what I can tell, he has very little interest in carnal appeal!"

"_For an American,"_ he added mentally.

Asuna didn't seem too convinced. Despite the fact that the child had no reputation of being a liar (save for hiding his true wizardly origins), she's one of those few girls whose brain is clouded with misandrous thoughts of all boys being beasts.

Seeing that he needed to explain more, Negi says, "I know myself because he's never taken an interest in my sister!" with a blush, obviously abashed at using at that example.

Asuna quickly recollected the image of his beautiful older sister. Yes, she was a sight that would make all boys drool for her like bulldogs.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Deciding to give the little boy the benefit of the doubt (an unlikely manner for her to add) Asuna quickly softened her tough demeanor. Yet the look in her eyes still indicated that she was serious in knowing more about the newcomer. They walked over to a bench under a cherry blossom tree and had themselves a seat. There, they began talking. They started with how Negi and Constantine met; Asuna was rather surprised on hearing about Constantine's fighting abilities. In her mind, he could give the martial arts club members a run for their money. Then they went on to another topic.

"So what's your friend like?"

"Well, he's very reserved…, decent…, quiet…" Negi started to stumble with his words. He found it rather difficult to find the perfect vocabulary to describe his aloof friend.

"And…?" Asuna inquired.

"…and sometimes he seems pretty…insecure," Negi enunciated.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he never stays in one place. He's always wandering around aimlessly, as if he's looking for something. When I see him in the mornings he always has dark circles under his eyes."

"Maybe he's just not much of a sleeper," the redhead theorized.

"That's a possibility, but his dreary state suggests that he's been having bad dreams on a nightly basis."

"_Well, who doesn't?" _Asuna thought.

"Another strange thing about him is that he usually acts as if he's being watched," Negi listed. "He has to glance around no matter what place he's in. He looks towards every corner, every spot, even the sky and ceiling."

"_Paranoia? Eh, anybody can have it," _Asuna noted.

"Okay well, what about when he's around people?" Asuna asked.

"Well, he's generally polite towards others, yet he has a tendency to stride away from socializing."

"What about girls?"

"Girls…well, he doesn't seem to blush or get shell-shocked when he's in the presence of even the most beautiful of them."

"_Then again, what was with that look on his face when he saw Ms. Hasegawa?"_ the little boy questioned, recollecting the moment his big friend entered his class.

The redhead and the boy spent a little more time discussing the behaviors, personality, likes and dislikes about the cryptic Constantine. Negi explained that his friend was Catholic yet he never prays nor goes to church; he has a passion for rock music, specifically the kind that sends people's hearts into a wild tremor the very moment the violent chord of an electric guitar in struck; and the young man spent some of his free time writing on his computer, poetry, stories, or muses of the sort. Apart from the listed information, Negi knew only a mere 10th of a fraction of his introverted comrade. Yet, the little boy went on to explain how much Constantine was able to help him in his studies, how good of a friend he is, how gentle he is, and how polite and gentleman-like he can be, and other traits that he looked up to. Asuna's eyes might have been playing tricks her, but she swore she saw sparkles in her Master Magi's eyes while he was praising the occultist.

Then came a topic that would be harder for him to explain.

"So, is he a wizard like you?" Asuna asked.

"Of sorts, but even though he has a knowledge of magic, he doesn't prefer that term," Negi supplemented.

"Why?"

"Well, the magical arts that he practices are quite a bit…_(oh how should I put it?)_ different."

"Different?"

"I-I can't really explain it," Negi stumbled. From what the child could remember, the powers Constantine possessed were quite phenomenal. Despite having a prodigal knowledge and experience in the supernatural arts, the archaic wisdom of his elder friend far surpasses his own, which brought his fathoming of Constantine's methods of magic a bit off.

After a while of calculating a better explanation of his friend's enigmatic ways, Negi explained, "He says that his magic involves that with the occult."

"Occult?" Asuna cocked an eyebrow, obviously foreign to that term.

"Occult is relating to mysterious and supernatural forces. He seems to be able to perform magic by psychically communicating with forces that a normal human being can't perceive. But how or with whom, I don't really know."

Asuna was at a loss. She understood the function of a Pactio and quite a number of spells that Negi has performed (and actually botched) in the past, but this explanation was quite above her head.

"I don't get it."

"Nor do I, through all of my life of being a magus, I've never have come across a form of magic that Leigh studies that seems so…odd, it's almost as if it's not of this world."

"Does he ever do any of his magical mumbo-jumbo?"

"Not really. I've only seen him do some telekinetic abilities and some work that is related to a science called alchemy, even some stage magic tricks similar to Ms. Rainyday's, but he hardly ever performs his main savvy in magic. I asked him a few times, but he wouldn't talk about it."

Negi had always been baffled by his friend's clandestine ways, somewhere in the back of his mind, Negi was hoping that the wisdom that Constantine had possessed was nothing sinister.

Before they had some time to talk some more, the bell tolled, signaling for Asuna's return to class. Upon Negi's request (albeit begrudgingly), Asuna decided to end the conversation, and get ready for class. However, he could tell in her mismatched eyes that there was more to talk about concerning his friend, once Negi returns from his leave. As Asuna walked away, Negi took a slight sigh, wishing that he could answer all of the most astronomical of questions that are yet to be answered, especially those revolving around his colleague, Leigh Constantine.

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_Meanwhile…_

Constantine strode about the campus, disregarding the sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks of every female middle schooler who was ogling at him as he passed. He hadn't seen Negi for quite a while so he decided to go look for the little tyke.

He circled a corner almost bumping into a tall girl who stood at about 5'11" or more, a very attractive girl to add. She had midnight blue hair with her side bangs tied in two red ribbons. Her eyes were sharp and narrow roughly resembling his own, and her irises were a deep glazed violet. Her skin was dark, like that of a bronze goddess.

Two strange things just occurred upon the very fraction of the second he established eye contact with this tall young lady. Somehow his True Sight flickered, making his vision behind his glasses suddenly become fuzzy and display a vague, yet strange aura around this girl. The other occurrence was that upon looking at his face, the tan girl suddenly smiled at him. Not a girlish fan-girl kind of smile that all of the other students were flashing at him, one that was a striking mimic of the smile of Mona Lisa. Little that Constantine knew, he was standing in front of a fellow exorcist. Yet it's doubtful that this dark-haired girl can say that she knows the true identity of the older and taller teenager in front of her either.

For a nanosecond, it was a standoff. Chinese and Puerto Rican-Japanese, Catholic and Shinto, male and female, Leigh Constantine and…

"_Hmm, I've seen her in the yearbook and in the class, what's her name again?"_

Mana Tatsumiya.

"_He really IS much hotter up close," _Mana noted.

Just staring at this lovely young woman in front of him made him recall a poor soul he saw during his time in the underworld. The poor bastard sold his soul just so he can have a beautiful, drop-dead gorgeous young woman very much like the one standing before him. "Drop-dead" are the words, now the moron is spending his life of eternity receiving pure excruciation from the succubae down below which is simply contrasting from the pleasure he wanted.

They stood eye to eye, observing each other's features, accessing their aloof expressions. Only about a few seconds after the very moment the student and her new teacher nearly bumped in collision, they began their conversation.

"Hi," Mana greeted.

"How you doing?" he intoned.

They walked to their separate directions, not another word was said.

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The rest of the school day passed when Constantine finally found his diminutive friend, and they went back to the teachers' office. Settling themselves down, they talked. Lesson plans, determinations, grading, testing, assignments, classroom rules & regulations, etc, practically all of the academic excrement. Finally getting off of the boring talk, they also discussed the magical activities that occur within the school. Asuna's ability to negate magic, Evangline's vampiric sorceress nature ("I knew it," Constantine had said), the bountiful of magic books within library island, the enchantments that are concealed within the boundaries of the school, the school's special services employment to his students Setsuna Sakurazaki and Mana Tatsumiya, and all of the club activities and personal interests of each girl of Class 2A.

Constantine's mind absorbed all of the information like a sponge. The more facts he learned about these girls, the interest grew more within him like a blazing wildfire. The half-breed is an exorcising swordswoman, now that's an unorthodox contrast. Then again, he forgot to add his late friend Chrono to his consideration.

No, forget it. He has to put the ever-extending list of the blighted behind him.

Mana Tatsumiya, the girl he met earlier, who specializes in Shinto priesthood, firearms and marksmanship. She works part-time as an exorcist-for-hire (finally, someone he can relate to) and as a mercenary/bounty hunter. Now that sort of occupation he wasn't expecting, especially for a girl her age.

The bell rang signaling the end of the school day. Negi and the Conman heard the stampede of feet and cheers of girls blaring in the halls.

After they heard the rush of feet die down, they left the teacher's office and went outside to meet up with Asuna. They found her waiting for them at the fountain. There, again, that scruffy feeling again within Constantine. This girl carried the very faintest of an astral scent that he knew all too well. Was he being paranoid?

Asuna spotted Negi coming her way, accompanied by his raven-haired companion. As the sub walked closer and closer towards her, she felt a rapping sensation within her chest.

"Asuna?" Negi said to her with a smile, "I believe you already know Mr. Leigh Constantine."

Asuna just nods at Negi, not diverting her gaze at the six-foot teen. The dazed expression on her face betokened her amazement of his towering height, for the very top of her head only reached to the base of his chest. Her eyes glistened with fascination of his very lean stature, perfectly combined with his tautly broad figure.

Negi turns to Constantine, "Leigh? This is Asuna Kagurazaka, my Ministra Magus."

Constantine eyed the redhead with a bit of quizzicality in his ebony irises. The two ponytails drooping down from the topsides of her head seemed to be twitching.

"This is her?" turning his head to Negi.

"Yes."

The Conman looked back at Asuna, who just angled an eyebrow at him, seemingly muddled at what action to take.

"It's nice to meet you ma'am," extending his hand out for a handshake.

Asuna eyed his palm curiously for a brief while, being slightly marveled by the size of his semi-large paw compared to her own.

Constantine then extended his psychic field the very millisecond her fingers interacted with the skin on his hand, diagnosing a spiritual exam on her. The energy flowed through his fingers into her spiritual body like electricity. In the midst of theirs hands shaking together in midair, Constantine felt the pulses retract through his hand, bringing back the sample of the girl's inner aura. What he felt now was just complete and utter dullness, duller than a blunt, unsharpened razor. He was confused as to why his probing senses came with little to no information of the girl's chakra, and why they returned so quickly to add. To him, it was like performing a CAT scan that returned with no results on the girl's inner structure.

Asuna suddenly felt a ringing sensation in her hand, undulating through her arms into every corner of her body. She felt as though the bells in her hair suddenly got inside her body and they were ringing nonstop. Her mind's eye suddenly had a flash of vague images, like the foggy static of an old-fashioned TV disillusioning the pixels that make up a clear picture. She was no psychic, but Asuna had the most uproariously strangest feeling that these evanescing mental images were familiar to her. She felt a dark mood peek out from the depths of her psyche, a mood she hadn't felt ever since she was just a child.

Disturbed by the strange event the moment they shook hands, Asuna was the first to break the handshake. She stared up at Constantine with the very same look of dubiousness she had when she first met Negi. She could tell that the young man seemed like no pervert, but something about him made her feel…uneasy. A feeling within her that he knows something that she doesn't but that was imperative to her life.

Trying her best to act normal, Asuna obliged to his show of friendliness, "It's nice to meet you too…P-professor Constan-thyme."

Leigh just cocked an eyebrow at her.

Negi gritted his teeth and floated over to Asuna's side, standing on his toes so he could whisper in her ear.

"Constan**tine **('-teen')." He corrected her, providing the correct modifier.

"Oh, sorry," she said, her tongue hanging out in embarrassment.

The occultist gave a light chuckle. She wasn't the first one to mispronounce his name, let alone his **sur**name.

After the pleasantries, the trio walked along the campus ground, taking their new friend to an unknown destination. For some reason, Constantine saw Negi whispering into Asuna's ear, and Asuna whispering back, he's very sure he heard his name mentioned a number of times. Was something being prepared for him?

Asuna spent the rest of the time staring at the black-suited Constantine, her eyes filled with unnerving questions about his motives. Negi was right on one thing; the occultist was not much of a social character. She heard the story of how Negi and Constantine first met and she was touched about how high of an opinion Negi holds him in and that he sees him as sort of a big brother. But deep down, her intestine was aching at her to be wary around this guy. Within the rear of her mind, something was telling her that this young man is cunning and treacherous, and that befriending him would be a painful and vain mistake. Why was her conscious telling her this? She he looks incredibly hot and cute, yet strikingly intimidating at the same time, but never before has she felt so natural distrust toward an individual she didn't know. Not even Ayaka gave her this feeling.

Asuna was trailing behind the new professor, not keeping her suspicion-laced eyes off him. At that moment, something slipped out of her mouth.

"I certainly hope you won't cause too much trouble while you're here," Asuna stated, staring skeptically at Constantine's back. The new teacher turned around and faced the heterochromatic-eyed girl, angling his face down so he can meet the latter's eye level. Asuna's mismatched green and blue eyes stared right up at Constantine's deep dark-colored eyes.

"You don't trust me, do you?"

Judging by the sweat that were peeping out of the pores on her forehead and goosebumps that were springing out of her arms and presumably the rest of her body, it's safe to assume that Asuna was straining every muscle to look unintimidated by the young Chinese man's towering height and blank stare.

Yet he can tell in her eyes she's trying to say to him, _"No sir, I don't!"_

Noticing that the two were a bit behind, Negi rushed back to the two teenagers.

"Is there something wrong, mates?"

Constantine kept his eyes on Asuna's blue and green ones. He then softens his gaze upon realizing Negi's presence and turns to him with a calm, friendly look.

"No, everything's fine 'Neg. I'm just having a little good chat with Miss Kagurazaka."

The boy teacher smiles in relief, "Oh, good, I'm so glad you two are getting along."

Asuna wrinkled her nose, _"Is he __**that**__ dense?"_

Negi turned around "well, come along, time's a wasting," he states jubilantly, apparently not aware of the confrontation they're having.

"Okay," Constantine answered, resuming his walking, not bothering looking back at Kagurazaka.

Asuna followed, keeping her eyes targeted at the tall boy walking in front of her, burning holes in his back one could say.

All three of them managed to reach the cafeteria. Asuna and Negi approached the door with Constantine right behind them, giving the newbie a slight glance before looking at each other and smiling.

Each of them grabbed an adjacent door handle, and then swung both of the doors open to introduce Constantine to a wild shower of confetti and streamers.

"Welcome to Mahora Academy Professor Constantine!" the entire class of 2A announced.

In front of him, the walls and ceiling of the cafeteria was adorned with colorful balloons and ribbons. On the tables were a bounty of snacks, sweets and other sorts of food and drink applicable for a party. Across the ceiling was a large banner that read the words

_Welcome Leigh Constantine_ along the top, and the words _We'll Miss You Negi_ along the bottom.

Negi felt greatly obliged yet embarrassed at the same time. His elder friend on the other hand had the same look of mild bewilderment when the girls gave him the exuberant welcome when he first arrived in their classroom. In the midst of regaining his composure, the very tall young man and Negi were suddenly grabbed by their hands and dragged to a nearby table where they were seated. The girls gathered around them, setting down drinks and boundless amounts of food and confections.

Constantine was given what appeared to be a dark drink that was steaming for some reason by a diminutive blue-haired girl tied in double braids who he recognized as Yue Ayase. Like the young man himself, her face expressed little to no emotion. 'Simply impassive' Negi had said.

He fingered the warm beverage in his hand staring at the contents, hoping it wasn't coffee. As he tips the cup to sip the fluid, Negi spots him, instantly recalling his own experience with Yue's unconventional choice of drinks.

"No Leigh, wait!" the little boy cried.

Too late. Unlike Negi, the new teacher had much better experience of tasting the most horrendous of things, this hot drink didn't even make the tops of the list. However, the scalding abnormal taste did have enough effect to make the black-suited young man slightly wry his lips and tongue.

"What is this?"

"It's hot cola," the poker-faced girl next to him answered.

"Hot cola?"

"Like hot-chocolate, but not."

"Yue!" a shrill voice exclaimed. "How many times do I have to tell you to NOT subject our honored guests to any of your dumb experiments!" the class representative raved at her.

Yue just responded with a stony gaze and walked away.

Ayaka merely sighed with her classmate's ignorance and turned to Constantine with a smile on her face.

"My apologies Professor Constantine, I hope you didn't get poisoned by Ayase's distasteful beverage?" she asked.

"No, no problem," he said wiping at his mouth with a napkin.

"Well, my name is Ayaka Yukihiro, Class Representative of 2A." she introduced herself in a commanding and somewhat arrogant tone. "On behalf of the class I would like to formally welcome you to Mahora." She finished with an elegant bow.

Constantine accessed the blonde bombshell. She had a very dainty face and a nice shapely stature of 5'6" or so, and long flowing, silky golden hair. She is attractive, to say the least.

"Thank you, Ms. Yukihiro, it's a pleasure to meet you," Constantine said in a pleasant voice with a small crack of a smile, "Mr. Springfield told me many great things about you and the class, so I look forward teaching," he added holding his left hand out for a handshake.

Ayaka beamed at his politeness and his glowing smile, "Why thank you, sir, I promise my class will be no trouble at all," returning the handshake.

"_My, his hand feels so warm,"_ she thought.

"So tell us, Mr. Leigh!" said a girl with ruby red hair with double braids shoving Ayaka aside.

"SAKURAKO!" Ayaka shouted angrily.

"How old are you?" Sakurako asked, ignoring the class president's rage.

"I'm seventeen." Constantine answered. Although, physically, he may look like in his late teens, chronologically, he had completely lost track.

The girls gasped in wonder of the boy being at such a young age, so more of them shot out the questions.

"Where do you come from?"

"I'm from New Hampshire."

"'Nude hamster?'" Makie Sasaki attempted to pronounce, popping up right next to Constantine.

"How tall are you?" the tall Kaede Nagase asked, shooting up from behind him, placing her hands on his broad shoulders.

"I'm about 6'1 and a half."

"_Whoa, that's taller than me," _Mana and the ninja lady thought simultaneously.

"Are you really Chinese?" the double-bunned, blond-haired kung-fu girl, Ku-Fei asked.

"Full-blooded descent."

For the record, it wasn't completely true. Despite hearing the appearance of a Chinese individual, he only held half the blood of an average Chinese mortal, the other half of him was more...complicated to say the least.

Just then, a reddish-headed girl with hair styled in a pineapple-like manner held up a microphone near his mouth, the seriousness in her face sort of made him…uncomfortable.

"_Kazumi Asakura,"_ he identified, member of the Journalism Club. A very snoopy reporter for the school who has no hesitation on intruding within the privacy of anybody interesting she meets. No matter how weird an occurrence may appear she would make every effort to fathom it and publicize it. He'll have to be careful around her. He almost tripped the line of making his face aired on a news network numerous times in the past.

"If you're Chinese, how did you get a western last name? Speak up," Kazumi questioned.

"It's a long story," Constantine responded. A VERY long story.

Before Kazumi could ask why, a girl with silvery grey hair cut in a boyish fashion shot up under her elbow. Madoka Kugimiya.

"Do you have a girlfriend, sir?"

"No, no I don't, he responded plainly.

"Are you looking for one?" asked a girl with medium-length sandy taupe hair accessorized with a pigtailed on the side. Yuna Akashi.

"No, I'm not."

Another young lady with a long dark green mane with two strands of antennae-like hair sticking from the top of her head appeared next to him. She wore a pair of thin spectacles with a thick black frame underneath. She seemed pretty cute to say the least.

"Well, what do you look for in a girl, Professor?" Haruna Saotome asked in him in a rather…surreptitious manner.

The young man decided it was best not to answer this one, from what Negi told him, this young woman is a rumormonger who can spread the most insignificant of rumors all over the entire academy (elementary through college) in just two hours, maybe less. He'll have to tread carefully around this girl as well.

The questions concerning to know more about himself and complementary statements about his height and body size just kept pouring onto him like a waterfall. Negi couldn't help but feel amused yet sorry for his teenage friend. Besides, Negi had a lot in debt for Constantine ever since the young man rescued him that day in the forest. He still couldn't get out of his mind of how he was able to take down the dark mages with just his fists and biblical scriptures. On another note, Negi had always wondered how a mage of his age can know so much about magic, especially in types in which Negi never thought that existed. To say the least, his friend is a mystery to him.

In the midst of being kowtowed by his students, Constantine's dark eyes scanned the vicinity. His pupils immediately spotted the visage of the green-haired Chisame Hasegawa, sitting isolated in a table at a corner of the room. Her eyes fixated at her laptop screen, her mind seemingly unperturbed by the festivities occurring around her. Again, Constantine had the feeling as if he was staring at himself. His observation suddenly desisted as he felt two bodies abrasively ambush him.

Looking at each side, Leigh found a pink-haired twin gripping his left and right arms. Fuka Narutaki and Fumika Narutaki, the most notorious mischief makers of Mahora's all-girls middle school. The girls and Negi laughed at their display of affection towards the newcomer.

"Hi, Mr. Leigh!" they chirped simultaneously.

Now any boy would feel uneasy and start melting into a warm puddle of embarrassment or excitement of being around thirty-one adorably pretty girls. Constantine, on the other hand, was as hard as granite.

"Hello…misses," he replied greyly.

Both of them spoke, one of them speaking an interval of a sentence while the other finishes the rest, like any other twins.

"Do you see that girl…"

"…with the glasses over there?"

Following their lead, Constantine, Negi and the girls around him shifted their attention to a certain bespectacled kid who was straining every fiber of her being to ignore the shifted stares, and dare not she meet their gazes. In reaction to the sudden attention her chronic eyebrow twitching immediately surfaced. The muscle controlling her eyebrow angles was uncontrollably palpitating within her brow ridge.

"_Stay calm, ignore the peanut gallery…"_

The congregation of female students and two boy teachers were substantially too far away to tell her agitated mood. Fuka and Fumika had their usual impish smiles curved across their cheeks, awaiting Chisame's reaction.

Anyway, Constantine responded plainly while looking at Chisame, "What about her?"

"We bet that she has…"

"...a crush on you!"

The very nanosecond those words were spoken the girls around them burst out in giggles, probably in disbelief of those words. One who wasn't particularly happy about the "little" joke was the glasses-girl herself. Upon hearing the statement she lifted her head up, thinned her lips and shut her eyes. She was trying all of her might not to drive her fists into her precious laptop keyboard. She took a deep breath through her nostrils in an effort to calm herself.

In reaction to the joke Constantine merely shifted his eyes down and adjusted his glasses, completely unabashed.

"_Yeah, I'm sure,"_ he thought blandly.

Before the twins or any of the other girls could badger the stoic young man any further, Negi decided that it was time to step in.

"All right, please, we mustn't make Mr. Constantine feel insecure, now."

"No, problem, 'Neg, they're just having a little fun," the new teacher assured. He then shifted this attention back to the simpering girls around him, looking at him with glowing, eager eyes.

"Well? What else do you have to offer?"

"Why, plenty Professor Constantine!" said an eccentric Ayaka.

That's how the rest of the day went. Party, party, party. The girls gave Constantine the same "homecoming" welcome as they gave Negi. He sampled an assortment of delectable dishes made from pure scratch by the Mahora cooking club courtesy of Satsuki Yotsuba and Lingshen Chao. Suddenly, Ku Fei speeds in with a mighty flying kick at Lingshen as the crowd witnesses another interesting sparring demonstration courtesy of the two members of the Chinese Martial Arts Club. Martial arts were obviously non-foreign to the fellow Chinese young man.

Soon, Makie stepped in giving a rhythmic gymnastics performance, swing her long blue ribbon with such intricate, undulating grace. Negi told him that her skills with it are so advanced that she can use it as a lasso and he's been a victim of some of her roundups, so…just a warning.

Next, the ever-so silent Zazie Rainyday performed her majestic magic show, which involved pink, pudgy birds that appeared from out of clouds of smoke then disappeared in wisps of sparkles. This girl Constantine took an intrigue in, not for her looks or for her choice of exotic wear, it's because of the strange spiritual essence this girl gave off.

After that, the party continued with performances given by the Mahora Cheerleading Club, Drama Club, and the Choir Club, who did a rendition of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" for Negi.

After the festivities finally came to a lull, Constantine politely excused himself from the group, leaving Negi to be badgered with countless parting gifts, despite knowing the information that he'll only be gone for a few weeks. He walked to a less densely populated side of the cafeteria, the same area where Chisame was sitting reservedly at one of tables with her laptop in front of her. He walked up behind the computer nerd, only about a ten feet distance from her. Being as quiet as a gentle breeze, he fixated his stare at the back of the green-haired pony-tailed girl's head. The net idol possessed no awareness that there was someone abaft of her. For some reason, the thought of asking the lonely girl as to why she's not joining the party crossed his mind. He immediately decided to toss it. It would be like asking his clone that question. Having no idea as to why he sub-conscientiously marched over just to gaze at the back of the bespectacled girl's head, the bespectacled young man turned away.

He then shifted his attention to someone else, someone who cannot be seen by the naked abnormal human eye. He turned his wrists making the front of his hands face outward. He glanced out the window and saw the descending sun, which was scarcely extending its golden ochre rays through the transparent glass. Slowly, but gradually, he drew in its powerful astral energy, energizing his psychic feelers. He crinkles his fingers, releasing waves of telepathic energy that spread throughout the entire area of the cafeteria, like sonar. The waves just blankly passed through the girls of Class 2A, most of whom were happily chatting away and conversing. The psychic waves Constantine released weren't searching for already living entities. They were searching for something more ethereal, something more…translucent. After waiting for several long seconds, the waves returned to him, bringing back a scent, not for the nose but for the mind. It was a psychic fragrance that was all too common with Constantine…it was ectoplasmic.

"_So she is here."_

He grabbed a chair nearby and sat down. His fingers went up to his bespectacled face and gripped the frames of his glasses, carefully sliding them off. He then angled his face, fixating his eyes towards the area of where the psychic waves bounced off. He activated his psychic vision and bit-by-bit, the diffused forms of spiritual radiation of each person came into his visual perception. At first, the auras that surrounded the bodily peripheries of each person seemed fuzzy, but as he adjusted his eyes, they became clearer and as colorful as rainbows. His pupils finally spotted a celestial body that stood in a lonely corner of the room. Now that his True Sight was mostly turned on, he had a clearer visual of the ghostly student.

"_Sayo Aisaka."_

Constantine observed her face and skin, it was silvery pale, similar to all ghosts he's seen. She adorned a school uniform that was a far cry from the burgundy uniforms that every other student was wearing. Her then examined the emotion on her face, she was smiling it seemed, but it wasn't a truly happy smile. It seemed like a smile from out of shame of which she cannot be seen nor heard for uncounted years. Even though she was happy that her classmates were enjoying themselves, she wasn't happy herself.

Constantine sighed for the girl whom he recognized as Sayo from the yearbook. He closed his eyes in an effort to deactivate his psychic vision. He then donned his sleek glasses back on his face. Sanity and normalcy had to be preserved at all cost if he's going to have to go through with this job. Bit-by-bit, the lonely, drifting spirit faded into a visage of nothingness.

* * *

_Later… _

Dusk had finally succeeded the day as the festivities came to a close. Every member of Class 2A gathered at the curb outside the dormitory to pay their goodbyes to Negi. Lots of tears were shed, making his hair and suit quite damp, and his small body was littered with bruises from the many muscle busting hugs from the over-affection of his students. By his side were his abnormally large backpack and his father's legendary staff; next to them were two bags of luggage, each of them filed with a bounty of gifts from his students. Takahata and Shizuna stood by with a car ready to take him to the airport.

After receiving the goodbyes from his students the young mage turned to stoic-faced teenage mystic. Constantine had to refrain from chuckling at the sight of Negi's face, it was moist and red from the many kisses and cheek pinches by the girls. They stood facing each other, with one looking down, the other looking up. Negi reached out his small paw for a handshake, which was firmly yet gently clutched within the warm large palm of Constantine's. They shook hands, wishing each other good luck.

"Take care 'Neg."

"And you as well, Leigh."

After they finished the handshake, Negi saw something that was rarely on his friend's face. It was a smile, only a minuscule smile, but genuine enough to ignite a warm, touched feeling within the soul of the Welsh wizard. Negi then did something rather impetuous. He lunged out and wrapped his small arms around his tall friend. Most of the girls around them couldn't help but coo and squeal at the sight of "brotherly love". Constantine didn't have sliver of a blush on his face, it just remained as plainly pale as always, but the occultist couldn't help but feel…uncomfortable with this act of affection from his little brotherly companion. Yet, he felt a bit flattered and returned with several small strokes and pats on Negi's maroon hair in gratitude. They shook hands and bowed to each other. Negi then walked over to the car and stepped inside. Takahata stepped into the driver's seat as Shizuna stepped into the passenger's. The engine started, and the car revved away. The class madly waved goodbye, in the class rep's case she was waving a handkerchief while sniffling.

Constantine looked on as the vehicle drove farther and farther away, taking itself into the oncoming night. The girls sighed as the car left their visages and decided to go to their rooms. After they wished Constantine a good night, they departed to the dormitory building. However, some of them stopped to give him a rather "coy" look before walking away. Even Ayaka had to stop to gaze upon the tall young man with her shining emerald irises for a brief moment before joining her roommates, Natsumi and Chizuru.

Constantine merely shook his head, _"It never ends…"_

As he was about to depart to the teacher's dormitories, the image of Chisame Hasegawa was once again caught within his peripheral vision. The same occurrence happened to the said girl herself. Once again, the two bespectacled teenagers exchanged stares. As opposed to blushing at his blank, stony gaze, Chisame merely just returned the stare with a peculiar look in her eyes. A stare of doubt, suspicion, and dare he say it…distrust? After a moment of a somewhat meaningless staring contest, Chisame's eyes suddenly narrowed down, giving him a look that said, "Piss off!" The occultist paid her no heed of reaction under her sharp glare.

Having enough, Chisame angrily jerks her head into the air breaking away the gaze adding a loud, piercing "HMPH!" before crossing her arms over her chest and then striding off.

He watched her walk away. At first, the thought of the flimsy little girl coming over to belt him crossed his mind. Now, strangely enough, watching this girl move made him have the feeling to keep living.

Fuck it. He's met more mild-mannered in the past, so why should he care about her? Taking out a map, he walked away into the night.

* * *

Constantine reached the top floor of the male teachers' dorm building. It wasn't too far from the middle school buildings, or the female students' dormitories. But then again, why the hell would he want to go there?

He flipped the light switch on, it's small-but not as small as it seems. The room is basically filled with all of the homely necessities: Medium-length bed, apparently long enough for him to sleep on, a kitchenette complete with a refrigerator filled with all sorts of complementary items, A/C and heater parked on the wall, a large viewport window with mini-blinds at the top, a neat-looking desk with several drawers right near the window, a television with a DVD player next to it, a square dining table in front of the TV with two chairs slid underneath, and a bookshelf with work supplies and multiple teacher's textbooks stored in.

A bathroom complete with toilet and a washing sink was a doorway from the foot of his bed. Problem? No bathtub.

The young man placed his largesuitcase near the bed, dropping it on the floor with a dull "thunk". There were quite a few things he needed to take out to add to his new living quarters. And believe, the suitcase contains a whole bloody lot of belongings which brings itself well above of what an ordinarypiece of luggagecould hold.

He placed his knapsack on the desk taking out four bottles containing shiny water, each marked with a hand painted cross. Holy water. He placed them in a row on the windowsill. They discouraged certain entities. Others wouldn't give…a damn.

He took off his black blazer and sniffed his dress shirt. Not bad. Besides, he didn't feel like taking a bath anyway. Nor would he want to since he learned that all of the teachers used the communal baths. Public bathing is something he substantially detests. Despite having a few apartments that didn't have bathtubs-let alone a shower-in the past, he does his best to avoid the bathing houses. He's always wondered how most of his inter-dimensional journeys bring him to this country of Japan.

Finally getting settled in and set for his first session tomorrow, Constantine toasted the air before taking a short swig of Negi's cough syrup.

"Ugh, bitter."

* * *

_Back at the girls' dorm_

Somewhere within a dimly lit dormitory, Chisame typed away on her double monitor computer, her fingers literally punching the keys on the keyboard, similar to someone operating the hard pressing keys of an old-fashioned typewriter. She was making a few updates to her website, nothing special. Her usual hobby with her computer is her usual treatment for dealing with her frustration.

Why would she be frustrated? Well for starters, they have a six-foot seventeen-year old boy who'll be teaching them for the next few weeks. How in the hell did a teenager manage to get a master's degree, and at a prestigious American school nonetheless?

One thing's for sure, the girls whom she refers to as morons, nutjobs, and weirdoes will never live it down. The girls will be swooning all over him like a swarm of flies to a piece of rotting candy, and they'll never let her hear the end of how much of a "hunk" the guy is. Was there any reason why all of the most idiotic, irrational things have to be put in front of her on a silver platter? And that guy? His demeanor of having little to no reaction to anything brought her to the brink of intimidation.

Her mind was producing a terrible storm of vexation. The muscles in her fists were just itching in driving themselves into the plasma screen monitors.

After quite a number of deep breaths and a smoothing massage of her temples, Chisame calmly went back to clicking and typing on her computer.

"_I have to admit, he __is__ really handsome," _she thought, redness glazing her cheeks. Constantine was the very first boy to incite a very odd tingling and clutching sensation within her chest. His long, chiseled face, his broad torso and incredibly lean stature, his pitch-black mysterious irises--

She suddenly realized at what her mind was producing and quickly shook it off.

"_NO! I can't let myself be brought down to the level of my lecherous classmates! Besides, he's probably here just to cop a few looks of us when we're naked! That pervy little upstart!"_

Chisame growled in fury at the thought and made a mental note to herself to report to the Dean if she sees the new teacher put a single toe out of line. She instantaneously loathed the way he looked at her with his slanted murky eyes, almost as if he was staring straight into her soul. After making the final touches to the update, the net idol then strides to her wardrobe. She swings open the cabinet doors…

"Okay, now which outfit should I wear next?" her voice transitioning from being crabbily sarcastic to being hauntingly sweet.

* * *

_The next morning…_

Constantine woke up rather early, about 6:00 AM to be precise. He slept…eh relatively well. No nightmares, but shittingly, he awoke with the usual goddamn stinging in his neck area and the stiffness in all four of his limbs and hands. Shit, that neck injury was going to hound him forever (but that's a different story).

After taking a piss and tidying himself up by brushing his teeth and washing his face in the half-bathroom, he had himself a light breakfast. A slice of toast, a few boiled eggs, and a mug of orange juice, that's all. He made a mental note to himself to out to a store later to buy some other essentials: soda, energy drinks, protein powder, maybe a few cans of light beer.

He took his daily medications which consisted of multivitamins, antidepressants, anti-anxieties, and a slight handful of other pills that were supposed to help ease all of the shit that's going on inside him. On the other hand, he has no idea WHY he keeps taking the antidepressants and whatnot, it's not like they do much of a job.

He finally got dressed while listening to a song by Seether blasting from his portable iPod stereo. He gave himself the final touches by combing out the frizzles in his medium-long hair. He analyzes his face in the mirror. Not too shabby, but he might have to shave later. He dons his glasses, grabs his satchel and marches out of the door.

Instead of taking the train, he decided to walk all the way to the school building. The sun was peeking over the horizon, dissembling the darkness that fell over the academy for one night. They didn't call this country "The Land of the Rising Sun" for nothing. Using his chakras, he drew in the celestial energy that emanated within the soft, red rays of the sun. He took in a deep whiff of the crisp morning air, letting the smell of the diffused morning dew fill his nostrils. Feeling revitalized, he kept marching on towards the school.

He finally arrived, greeted by Professor Takahata as well as several other teachers. They talked quite a bit, mostly discussing the students of Class 2A. Constantine was a bit taken aback when he heard that a mere class of 31 girls would be responsible for the resigning of two teachers, one of whom had a panic attack. Some students have also been responsible for inflicting considerable damage on academy grounds and property. To be specific, they've been commonly caused by spars between members of the martial arts clubs, fights between the class rep and Asuna, and experimentation botches by Lingshen Chao and Satomi Hakase, Class 2A's own "mad scientists".

Constantine decided to take a look at Ms. Hakase's picture and profile. He found her smiling image embedded into the notebook page. She possessed a rather high forehead which indicated high-quality and high-quantity of intelligence; her dark hair with a teal shade was braided into two ponytails, each sticking out from the back of her head; and a cute, childish round face for a perfect fit of her round glasses. Not just another pretty face to Constantine.

The school bell tolled signaling homeroom period. Upon hearing the Big Ben bell pattern, Constantine grabbed his teacher's textbook and satchel and proceeded out of the teachers' office. While striding down the halls he caught some looks of other students who were heading to their respective classes. Every time he tried to meet their gaze they'd always look away giggling madly like squeaking guinea pigs.

"_Women."_

Anyway, he made it to the Class 2A door. He heard nothing but absolute silence the very second he reached it. He had all of the cautions and warnings from his pre-adolescent friend, not to mention all of the other teachers who had the unfortunate experience of having to put up with them imprinted within his brain, and feeling it or not, he was prepared. A new challenge? He'll see.

His lips let out a soft whistle, his hand straightens his ebony tie, and his shoulders shrug his black blazer. Reaching over, his hand clasps onto the door's handle and smartly slides it open.

After opening it fully, his brain suddenly pulsed, what was it?

His answer came when a board eraser plunged right in front of him, narrowly missing his nose and landing on the floor just a few centimeters from his shoe. He stared at the inanimate object for a brief second before bending down and picking it up.

His legs then walk within the perimeter, entering the classroom. All thirty-one pairs of eyes were directed at their new English teacher. Setting the eraser down on the bottom of the chalkboard, and placing his satchel on the teacher's desk nearby, Constantine finally faced the class.

There, seated in rows was every student of the notorious Class 2A. His blank, black eyes accessed individual after individual. Everyone physically accounted for, with the exception of Sayo Aisaka, but he knows she's here, he can feel her presence.

The students in return, accessed the tall, lean teenager. All were staring at him with complete attention, like a group of obedient dogs-wait, dogs probably isn't right plural.

There was shyness evident on some of the girls' faces, with the exception of one girl who sits in the back of the middle row. Chisame had her usual irked expression on her face, peevishly glowering at the substitute teacher.

"_Someone has the case of 'the enemy within' today."_ Constantine

"Stand!" a meek voice commanded.

Constantine recognized the violet-haired Nodoka, who stood up out of her seat, the rest of her classmates following in suit.

"Bow!"

"Good morning, Professor!" the class chorused cheerily.

"_Bowing. Pteh, I'm sick to death of that custom."_

Yet he was obliged by their show of respect, so he slightly bowed back to them.

"As you were."

The entire class got themselves seated.

He placed his large textbook on the podium, and positioned his mighty body behind it, giving the class his oh-so common poker face, and then he took roll. Each girl responded pleasantly (more or less) when her name was called out, however in Chisame's case, her response sounded more like a grumble rather than a "here".

All was said and done, and now it was time for "business". The tall young man took a deep, gentle whiff of the classroom air through his nostrils, taking in some vague essences of the various perfumes the girls must've applied on themselves earlier. With calm eyes he looked at each girl. In return, they looked at him. He sized them up, they sized up him. Not a sound was produced within the perimeter of the classroom. No individual's vocal cords dared to trill. The only sounds existent were the soft, silent wisps of breathing through noses.

The black-suited teacher examined every minute visual detail of each thirteen-year old sitting in her seat. Polite, well-intentioned smiles were on the faces of Class President Ayaka and on most of the girls of Class 2A, yet some had redness marked on their cheeks nonetheless. Plainly stoic yet attentive expressions were etched on the features of Mana, Setsuna, Zazie and Evangeline. Freezingly shy countenances of anxiety and apprehension were evident on the most timid of students, namely Nodoka, and Ako, and Natsumi.

He flipped the textbook open, turning a handful of pages to the section where Negi supposedly left off. He found a small yellow note caught within the binding between two of the pages. He removed the piece of paper and examines the writing. The handwriting looked childish, yet neat nonetheless. It was Negi's handwriting, of course, scribbled into a message that was all too familiar to Constantine.

'**Good Luck'**

Constantine rolled his eyes at the message and then shifted them back to the girls, some of which had quizzical expressions on their faces, probably wondering why their new teacher had been silent for quite a while.

The surrogate homeroom professor spoke, making his first teacher's command, "All right, let's begin."

The rest of the class period went on pretty smoothly. The lecture was mainly discussing the literary subgenre of Dark Romanticism, another story of his life. Constantine explained in his own summarized detail that the pieces of literature describe individuals who are prone to sin and self-destruction, not as inherently possessing divinity and wisdom. For the Dark Romantic authors, the natural world is dark, decaying, and mysterious; when it does reveal truth to man, its revelations are evil and hellish.

Why did he explain it in that sort of detail? Because **he **knows so.

Then, Asuna wanted to know if Dark Romanticism had anything to do with stories and movies like "Romeo and Juliet" and "Titanic". Constantine inwardly groaned, obviously she wasn't paying much attention. He explained that the topic at hand wasn't about "love", it was about the spreading of ideas, intellect and feelings through the work of art and literature. Unfortunately, the redhead seemed too ignorant to understand. Ayaka, in an attempt to taunt Asuna on Constantine's "behalf", told the teacher that he needs to excuse the idiocy of Asuna, because in science class, Asuna mistook the "mole" base unit for the burrowing animal. She attempted to coax the new yet discouraged professor by putting an arm around him and telling that wasn't his fault. In addition, she muttered into his ear how Asuna was such an imbecile and could never get anything right.

Ayaka once again underestimated Asuna's sharp hearing as the blonde class president had her hair sharply pulled back, thus initiating their daily catfight.

While their classmates stood at the sidelines cheering and calling for bets, Constantine finally realized what Negi really meant about them being "rowdier than a swarm of angry bees." So he had two options: he could just watch the class substantially break down into anarchy by sitting back watching the show and chew a piece of gum, or he could just put a stop to this like any other good teacher.

He chose the latter option and calmly stepped in. In the midst of being inadvertently clawed, pounded and kicked by the hands and feet of the two livid wildcats, Constantine managed to get his powerful arms around Asuna to lift and pull her away from Ayaka.

The class marveled at his strength, flabbergasted at how he could just pick up their hot-headed classmate like a mere doll. The bell-haired girl didn't want to leave the fight that easily so she reached behind her grabbed two handfuls of the tall young man's thick black hair and started yanking at his scalp all the while shouting at him to release her. The pain of having his head pulled at was only minimal for Constantine. Ayaka on the other hand, absolutely didn't appreciate Asuna's assault on the new teacher. So she grabbed Asuna's ankles and forcefully tugged in an effort to pull her off, thus unfortunately increasing the strain of having Constantine's hair pulled out. It immediately dissolved into a triple tug-of-war, girls at all sides rooting around them.

Then, the sound of the sliding door opening immediately halted the hysteria. Everyone turned their heads to see a smirking Professor Takahata at the doorway, seemingly amused by how the new teacher was "handling" the situation.

"Hey, how you doin'?" Constantine asked while his arms were still around the waist an elevatedstill around a lifteds arms still around a lifted Asuna who was still clutching his choiffre suddenly had redness on her cheeks upon seeing Takahata.

"Oh, good, 'Con. Just checking up on how things are going," Takahata replied, acting as if he's not aware of what's going on.

The Chinese boy slowly set Asuna down on her feet, who in return released his head and just stood there, gazing at the elder teacher with adoration.

"Eh, things are pretty smooth," Constantine answered plainly while brushing at his clothing and patting his hair down. "These girls are very spirited when it comes to learning, I'm honored in being their teacher," he added, yet with a bit more dull tone of voice.

In return, most of the girls beamed at the "complement".

Takahata smiled at him, "Well I'm glad you like it," As he was about to leave he instantaneously turned back and requested, "oh, I was wondering, Professor, if I can borrow one of your students to help me with a little office work I'm doing."

"I can do it Professor!" Asuna jubilantly declared before Constantine could respond.

Takahata smiled heartwarmingly at Asuna, pleased at her generosity. "Well sure, Asuna, if it's all right with Mr. Constantine."

Asuna turned to the said teacher, who just gestured his head to go right ahead. Asuna happily marched over to the doorway as she and Takahata disappeared into the halls.

Constantine walked over and slid the door shut, looking sideways through the window to see the visage of Asuna who was walking shyly close to Takahata. He shifts his attention to the class, all of whom have gotten themselves seated at their desks. He walks back to the podium, taking a breather through his nose. After a moment of silence he decided to ask the class a question.

"She fancies him, doesn't she?"

The girls responded in affirmation to his statement.

"Ever since grade school, sir," Konoka, Asuna's deskmate/roommate added.

"Ah."

He shifts his attention back to his teacher's textbook, finding where he left off. After what seemed like ten…maybe fifteen seconds of quiet he spoke out something, looking at the door on his left.

"Can you imagine how ugly their children would look if they got married?"

It could have been Asuna's imagination, but she swore she heard the uproariously howling laughter of her classmates. And deep down, she suddenly was having the sizzling feeling that she had been ultimately insulted.

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long update, Senior year is like an anchor on your back. Anyway, leave some rviews, s'il vous plait. 


	3. Nevermore but Nightmares

A/N: Disclaimer still stands. Warning, some graphic content later on. But then again, I doubt you'd care.

--

* * *

_--_

**Chapter 3: Nevermore but Nightmares...**

_--_

_-- _

_**"Scorching my seared heart with a pain, not hell shall make me fear again."**_

_**-Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), Tamerlane, Part II **_

_--_

_-- _

_Present Day_

_Morning_

_Mahora Academy_

Leigh Constantine spat out a mouthful of foamy Listerine into the sink, grimacing at the alcoholic minty flavor that was burning the crevices of his mouth. After two or three mouthfuls of water to rinse out the mouthwash, he went to the kitchenette to have his breakfast, which consisted of a mere can of Diet Coke and two slices of buttered toast (Constantine finally found the time to go shopping).

As he chewed on his meal, he glanced out the window and stared at the view before his eyes, letting the coarse fringes of his medium-length hair droop to the side of his head. Sunlight had neglected to make its presence today, for there were only dark murky clouds cascading across the sky foretelling the oncoming of heavy weather.

He resumed eating his breakfast, his mind rewinding to the first day he taught class. He recalled the fight the class representative and the redhead with bells that took place on that day. His head was still a little tender from the savage yanking of Asuna's strong grip.

Once again he turned his visage to the window his dreary-colored eyes seemingly trying to commune with the dreary sky.

"_It's just another day…"_ he quietly phrased.

--

* * *

--

Later in class…

"'_Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,_

_Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore_  
_While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,  
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.  
'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, 'tapping at my chamber door --  
Only this, and nothing more.'_" A dark voice spoke aloud.

A dastardly rainstorm came upon the giant boarding school, bringing upon heavy, stinging rainfall, blustering gusts of wind, and virulent rumbles of thunder and violent flashes of lighting upon the campus. It was on this very dreary morning that the class had began to read one of the darkest pieces of American literature written by one of the many fathers of Dark Romanticism himself, Edgar Allen Poe. The substitute known as Leigh Constantine was rather pleased when they've begun his poem, that way his new students will be able get a glimpse of his "emphatic" side.

"'_Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,  
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.  
Eagerly I wished the morrow; -- vainly I had tried to borrow  
From my books surcease of sorrow -- sorrow for the lost Lenore --  
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore --  
Nameless here for evermore._

_And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain  
Thrilled me -- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;  
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating  
'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door --  
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; --  
This it is, and nothing more._

_Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,  
'Sir,' said I, 'or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;  
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,  
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,  
That I scarce was sure I heard you ' -- here I opened wide the door; --  
Darkness there and nothing more.'_"

The classroom was dimly lit inside, about as dark as a lonely man would be in his bedroom chamber with a burning fire in his fireplace on a stormy night. However, the lights were still vaguely bright enough for the class to read their textbooks. It was the new teacher's idea to dim the lights for this morning's lesson. He feels that in order for them to understand the poem, they must experience the mood of it. So far, it's worked, to say the least. The voice continued grimly…

"'_Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,  
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;  
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,  
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, 'Lenore!'  
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, 'Lenore!'--  
Merely this, and nothing more._

_Then into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,  
Soon I heard again a tapping somewhat louder than before.  
'Surely,' said I, 'surely that is something at my window lattice;  
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore --  
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;--  
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'_"

Although a few of the students were reading in their books, following their professor's voice, most of them couldn't help but stare at him in stupor as he strode about the room reciting the stanzas. They were completely entranced by the teenage teacher's voice work of this dark poem. His deep voice and mysterious persona towards them worked well..._too_ well. Despite the evident youth in his voice, his tone was so low and ominous-sounding that it resembled that of an evil old man, let alone the Grim Reaper himself.

"'_Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,  
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;  
Not the least obeisance made he; not an instant stopped or stayed he;  
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door --  
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door --  
Perched, and sat, and nothing more._

_Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,  
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,  
'Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, 'art sure no craven,  
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore --  
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'_  
_Quoth the raven 'Nevermore.'_

"_Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,  
Though its answer little meaning -- little relevancy bore;  
For we cannot help agreeing that no sublunary being  
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door --  
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,  
With such name as 'Nevermore.'"_

To his adulating class, the teenager read the words of the main character as if the poor soul in this story was himself. What really sent tingles up their vertebrae was the tone of his voice as he read the word "_nevermore"_. He spoke the noun of nihilism with such bitter coldness of the artic no one else of Class 2A had ever heard before.

"'_But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,  
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.  
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -  
Till I scarcely more than muttered Other friends have flown before -  
On the morrow will he leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'  
Then the bird said, Nevermore.'_

_"Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,  
Doubtless,' said I, what it utters is its only stock and store,  
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster  
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -  
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore  
Of 'Never-nevermore.'_

_But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,  
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;  
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking  
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -  
What this grim, ungainly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore  
Meant in croaking Nevermore.''"_

Even though most of the students could vaguely comprehend the words of sorrow, their orator spoke them with such bitter abhorrence that chilled every cell in their bones. It didn't take a psychic to know from their silent yet evident reactions that they really didn't like where this was going.

"'_This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing  
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;  
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining  
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,  
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,  
__She__ shall press, ah, nevermore!_

_Then, me thought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer  
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.  
Wretch,' I cried, thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee  
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!  
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'  
Quoth the raven, Nevermore.'_

_Prophet!' said I, thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -  
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,  
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -  
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -  
Is there - __is__ there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'  
Quoth the raven, Nevermore.''"_

He spoke these verses with such deadly power, each word laced with venomous disdain towards death. He spoke as if he were challenging death itself and daring It to come at him in a wrestling match. Students started to tremble from head to toe, cold, icy sweat pouring down their backs and heads, the strands of feelers all over their bodies springing up, bringing up goose bumps. The two long ponytails on the sides of Asuna's head were vibrating like springs, Makie's mouth was as dry as the Sahara Desert, the Cheerleading Trio's eyes resembled tiny white dots of apprehension, Nodoka sat there absolutely stone cold, the Narutaki twins hugged each other trembling like maracas, even the bold and brave ones, Setsuna, Mana, Zazie and Kaede couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva from the tension their professor was creating. The entire class ogled at their teacher in absolute apprehension of how he would read the last lines. As he spoke them aloud, he raised his voice to a tone to bring as much dark impact upon the poem as he can!

"'_Prophet!' said I, thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!  
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -  
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,  
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -  
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'  
Quoth the raven, Nevermore.'_

_Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -  
Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!  
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!  
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!  
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'  
Quoth the raven, Nevermore.'_

_And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting  
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;  
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,  
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;  
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor  
Shall be lifted – __**nevermore**__!'"_

As he uttered the final word, a violent, bright flash of lightning blasted through the windows, white light reflecting off the mystic's glasses, giving him an ominous impression. Then followed an explosive crash of thunder echoing from outside penetrating the walls sending almost every schoolgirl out of their seats as they released choruses or gasps and shrieks of terror that were building up in their larynxes for quite some time.

Almost immediately, Constantine threw on the light switch, filling the room with welcoming, artificial light, revealing the state the students were in. Constantine, turned he head looked over the class, some of the girls' skins were pale white, perspiration soaked through their uniforms, they wheezed through their mouths after being startled spitless by the thunder and lightning.

He looked over the more reserved of the bunch, mainly the members of the martial arts clubs and the marionette performer. They didn't bear the features of fear when their teacher was reading the dark poem, yet their faces showed evidences of disturbance and/or maybe discomfort of his emphatically malicious reading voice.

He then looked over to practically the only individual who wasn't intimidated nor rattled by his reading, Evangeline. She stared at Constantine with a smile, not one as a result of nervousness nor submission, but one out of impression. The vampiric sorceress can read the most haunting of literature and be nothing short but unshaken. Even though it was written in a form of English that can only be esoterically understood, Constantine was somehow able to bring out the worst in the poem.

He refocused his attention to the full party of his students; most of them were still a bit shaken up. Nothing but silence reigned the room. The fear had been cast away by the soft glow of the classroom lights, but now all of the students just dazedly at their professor, mystified by the performance of how he was able to read a simple poem in such a masterful way.

"Ah, don't look so shocked," he waved his hand impassively.

The entire collective of girls kept their irises of various colors focused on their professor. Silence still kept its tight, unnerving hold on everyone and everything within the classroom. The class president, Ayaka, was one of the many of her classmates whose mouths were hanging open like a mailbox lid. The muscles in her arms then made an involuntary twitch and then they started to move up, Ayaka suddenly found herself smacking the palms of her hands together in a repeated fashion. When she realized what she was doing, she couldn't help but beat her hands together more until other hands joined in. Soon, an entire chorus of applause clattered the walls of the classroom as the girls of Class 2A gave their teacher a standing ovation for his reading.

"A marvelous job reading, Professor Constantine!" the Class Rep gushed to him, a faint blush caressing her rosy cheeks. Other students voiced in agreement as they stared at him with shimmers in their eyes and redness on their faces like shining apples.

Constantine shrugged modestly, "I try." a simple, but to-the-point response.

Class ended regularly as Constantine packed up his property and proceeded to walk out the door. The eyes of thirty-one students never left his tall, lean body as his strode away. The very moment as his presence had ceased the class instantaneously went into chatters. Some commented on how his reading was just as good as their own Professor Negi's, others commented that it might be better, a few, however, thought he was just a big hunk of a teacher, even if he is a friend of Negi.

Meanwhile in the back of the room, the middle section of the desks, Yue leaned over to the forest green-haired Chisame. It wasn't usual of her to talk to her introverted deskmate, but it was a question that suddenly sparked into the blue-haired girl's mind in which she had to ask. Why to Chisame in particular, she had little idea, but something about Chisame's attitude toward their substitute teacher intrigued her in the same way as Nodoka's shy yet soft-as-silk demeanor towards Negi.

"So Chisame…" Yue intoned to her deskmate. The computer nerd shifted a lazy eye to the book nerd, she couldn't care less about her classmates asking her something especially stupid questions like "do you why the sky's blue?" In fact, she'd literally punch an individual in the face if someone asked him that sort of asinine question. But she was bored at the moment so she'd bite.

"What do you think of Professor Constantine?"

Now that was a question Chisame wasn't expecting. And it gave the bespectacled girl little reason to give her deskmate a sock in the face, much less a pinch and a stretch of a cheek. But that particular question of what were her thoughts on the Chinese-American teenager, it turned her mind into a meticulous process of thoughts, in the same way as if she's deciphering the numerical sequences of a hard Algebra question. She remembered the day they met on the train and the initial feelings that sparked within her as she first observed his physical features. She recalled the anger she felt in which she felt the absurdity of a so-called seventeen-year old master degree holder who is teaching in the all-girls division of a boarding school. She also recalled the time they laid eyes on each other once again after his welcoming party and Negi's departure to the airport and when she glared at him for no particular reason and made that girlish huff of indignation (why did she do that in the first place?). She recalled the memories of the past week in which he taught sessions in Negi's place, and on a few points they'd exchange a glance. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find out WHAT she thought of him.

Whatever it was, the professor, or so he called himself, was the most enigmatic person Chisame had ever encountered. Despite his handsome looks, despite his normal attitude, despite bearing a few personal qualities that Chisame familiarized herself with (at least so far): the reservation, the introversion, the personal surrounding of air of wanting to live in a space of isolation, Constantine was a walking monolith of mystery. He held a sort of scent of conundrum that departed himself from certain members of her annoying class, the Puerto-Rican, the Caucasian, even the tattoo-faced albino, Zazie.

So she decided to tell Yue the truth, or so she thought, "He's…okay. I like the way he read the poem. And…he's done a good job teaching so far," she uttered.

Yue merely stared back at the green-haired girl, a blank gaze with her blank blue irises, for a split microsecond, Chisame thought Leigh was staring at her, which enticed a small millimeter of blood to tint her porcelain cheeks. Yue kept staring at her, which turned that brief moment of silence into a brief moment of weirdness.

"Okay." Yue answered, simple and to-the-point as usual.

Then another adult body clad in a suit entered the classroom, it wasn't as tall and muscular as Constantine's, and it wasn't black with a white dress shirt and a black tie. It was the old Mr. Nitta, here to teach the Algebra period for Class 2A's school day.

"All right!" Nitta shouted in his usual crotchety voice, "take out your textbooks so that we may begin. NOW!" he barked at the end.

Hurriedly, each girl scrambled for their math textbook, at a speed fast enough at which Nitta won't force them into the Squat position for.

Again, it was just another day…

--

* * *

_-- _

_8:30 PM_

In the bathing hall, the girls of Class 2A were enjoying their usual evening cleansing. Everyone was basking in the warm water; washing away the foamy soapsuds they massaged their bodies with initially. Playful splashes, bouts of girlish laughter and cheerful gossip were the only noises evident from the bathing pools. Albeit being in their usual assorted social groups, almost every member of the perky of the class congregated together in the big pool discussing the main topic at hand, Professor Constantine. Chisame, on the other hand, sat reservedly in a separate bathing pool, a considerable distance from the main group of her classmates.

They talked about how much their intern homeroom teacher practically nailed today's literature in class. In their minds, he was so convincing they thought he's probably a teen actor posing as a teacher, but that wasn't the case. Some members of the class were still shaking from head to toe not because of the morbid poem, but because of how much their new professor scared them out their skirts after the way he read it. He read it in a way their now-absent Professor Springfield wouldn't even _dream_ of reading.

It had only been a few days since Constantine had started teaching at Mahora academy, but the girls had already grown fond of their substitute teacher as they had with Negi. His teaching methods were a bit departing from the orthodox procedures of the common teacher. Instead of assigning homework, he had them write what he called "quickwrites", a half a page-long muse of thoughts before the end of class. Generally, they write about certain thoughts about the lecture that was taught, what it sprouted within their minds and what elements in their lives that they can relate to. "Just write" it was plain and simple, a piece of weight taken off the girls' backs.

When it came to fights between the Asuna and Class Rep. Ayaka, Constantine would immediately intervene. He would separate them as easy as pulling a worm out of an apple, then give them a admonishing, yet gentle lecture that they're very intelligent and spirited girls, yet violence in the school would not give their class a dignified name, much less the academy's.

"If you want to rumble with each other, do it off campus, I'll referee," he had said.

Asuna sat in the baths, congregating with the rest of the girls, deep in her thoughts. She had to admit, even though it irked her to have her new teacher halt her opportunity to kick her blond nemesis's ass, his statement enticed a small chuckle within her.

"Hey Asuna," a girl asked her, interrupting her thoughts. The redhead turned to the leafy green-haired Haruna.

"Since Negi stayed with you and Konoka in your room, is Professor Constantine rooming with you two as well?"

"Actually, no," Asuna answered, "after Negi gathered up his things before he left, he didn't say anything about me and Konoka having to house his friend."

In actuality, Asuna felt relieved. Negi was one thing, but rooming with his older friend, a tall boy in his late teens was a bit beyond the pale for the bell-clad redhead.

"I wonder where the school would have him room, the boys' dormitory is too far away and they certainly don't expect him to live in the girls' dorm, do they?" the assistant nurse, Ako Izumi, asked.

"Well I heard from my grandpa that he's staying in the teachers' dorms." Konoka piped.

"All by himself?"

"Mm-hmm."

The orchid-haired Nodoka looked down into the water staring at her undulating, vague reflection, "Gee, he must get awfully lonely there." She muttered to herself, not knowingly that she sort of pitched in to the conversation.

Yue turned to her best friend, her blank stare matching that of a quizzical stare. It seemed a bit out of character for Nodoka to be concerned about a boy.

"Why? I thought you didn't like boys Nodoka," the ocean-haired girl inquired.

"O-oh i-it's not like that!" Nodoka flustered. She then shifted her shy head to the side, averting the gaze of her peers. She was more than unable to come up with a response to that question.

Then a voice answered for her, much to her relief, "Nodoka's right! Mr. Leigh seems too much of a stiff, someone should go over there and give him some oomph!" Fuka Narutaki stood up from the bath, declaring her voice proudly.

"What do you mean 'oomph'?" Asuna asked.

"I mean show him excitement in which any girl can provide to a boy, show him how much fun Japan can be and how much fun US girls can be!" she stood up taller, much to her younger twin's embarrassment, "if he's looking for a partner, I should be the first on his list!" the elder declared.

"You shall do no such thing," an ostentatious voice commanded.

The girls shifted their attention to their fearless blond leader. She stood in the bath water with her arms akimbo, her curvaceous body upright in a dignified manner.

"Even though Mr. Constantine has done a well-performed job for Professor Negi and has shown us a boundless show of respect, he may still see us as little children! What image of Japan do you think he'll be given if we leave him in YOUR hands?"

"And we suppose YOU can do a better job than us, Ayaka?" Haruna sneered.

"Why of course!" the blond boasted, "unlike SOME people," she paused for a bit, a cynical green eye of hers shifted to the visage of her redheaded nesesis, who glared back upon eye contact.

She resumed, taking her mannerly pose, "I have class, etiquette, maturity, practically all of the things a noble Japanese woman can show a man what Japan is like."

'_That's probably not the only thing Ayaka wants to show him…" _Haruna thought, staring at her Class President's chest.

"Jeez, first Negi, now you're going after Professor Constantine? What IS it with you and boys, blondie?" Asuna heckled. At first, Asuna thought that her blond nemesis was a pedophile, now a new thought emerged. She was a nympho.

"H-hey! I'm just willing to make Professor Constantine feel at home!" Ayaka defended herself. She then crossed her arms under her bosoms, glaring down at Asuna, retaining her mightily dictatorial manner.

"Besides, Bells, you didn't really roll out the welcome wagon for him, seeing as you attacked our poor teacher by yanking at his head!" the class rep countered.

"Well, you made I worse when you starting pulling at my legs!" Asuna yelled back.

The two were about to degenerate into another one of their classical brawls before a few members of 2A calmed them down, telling them that it's only bath time, a time to relax.

The two rivals begrudgingly complied as they sat down, submerging their bodies into the warm, soapy bath water.

A pause coerced the entire class as they continued their nightly cleansing. Not one girl knew what to say next, except…

"You know, one of us should move in with Mr. Leigh!" Kazumi said.

The whole class literally dropped everything as they instantaneously shifted their attention to the young up-and-coming journalist.

"I agree with Nodoka, Mr. Leigh must get really lonesome without the presence of someone to care for him. We should have someone go to his apartment and keep him company," she then went into a thoughtful pose, "someone who would get him to open up more, someone who can connect with him, someone—"

"Excellent idea, Kazumi!" Ayaka declared, once again she stood up out of the water and once again stood proud with her hands on her hips. "And as Class Representative, I shall be the one to move into Professor Constantine's apartment and provide the best company one can provide!"

"HEY!" an indignant voice shouted, it was Sakurako who was raving her arms like a hummingbird and her eyes were spinning with craze, "That is totally unfair Ayaka! You can't use your status to get to do whatever you want!"

"She's right!" the pink-haired Makie added, "We should all get a chance to make Professor Negi's friend feel welcome!"

Other girls joined in into the argument, voicing their opinions in which Ayaka's power can only go so far. Soon, it blew out into a full-scale debate between each girl of who should room with Constantine.

"What we should do is have a breast-measuring contest, to see who is most worthy to move in with Mr. Leigh!" Haruna declared.

"WHAT?! NOT THAT AGAIN!" Asuna shouted in opposition to that absurd suggestion.

Unfortunately, no one paid any heed to Asuna's protest as the girls have already gotten on another debate on who has the biggest mammaries. Some however got into discussion on what they would do if one of them moved in with the tall young man.

"What would you do if you roomed with Mr. Leigh?" Fumika asked the squinty-eyed Kaede.

She put her finger on her chin in a thoughtful gesture, "Hmm, I'd think I'd like to spar with him first."

"Me too!" shouted Ku Fei, "and if he's strong enough, maybe I'll make him my hubby!"

"WHAT!" You can't do that!" Ayaka shrilled at the blond Chinese girl.

"And why shouldn't I?" Ku Fei innocently questioned, "You're in love with Professor Negi, so why can't I have Mr. Leigh?" she teased on.

Chisame gruffed under her breath, she simply had enough of hearing these boy-crazy nutcases rambling on how hot and cute their new teacher is. It was outrageous that they've already began yet another competition on who should be the one to room with their teacher. To her, teachers should be the key to unlocking the full potential of every student, not as some sleazy object of affection. That little twerp Negi was one thing, but that American in an all-girls' school was crossing the line.

Deciding that she was done bathing she rose out of the bath water, wrapped her body in a fluffy white towel, donned her glasses which were starting to fog up from the steam, and stepped onto the tiled porcelain floor.

She glared around the bathing hall, her eyes scanning around the vicinity. No one hiding behind the palm trees or any of the other tropical vegetation; no one peeking out of the door to the changing rooms; no one's head submerging out of any of the bathing pools in a periscope-like manner; just the enjoyment of teenage girls within the gigantic hot springs room.

Chisame shut her eyes and headed toward the changing rooms. As she opened her clothing locker and gathered her clothes together, the conscious functions of her brain suddenly delivered a question to her subconscious thoughts.

'_Why was I looking around the bathing hall to begin with?'_

Could it be that she was searching the vicinity for any peeping toms? Was it because the deeper realm of her cynical mind had the thought of Leigh Constantine being in the presence of herself and her classmates. Could her consciousness also be visioning a picture of how her substitute teacher would look like in the buff?

"No!" she yelled, but not loudly, per-se.

She immediately caught herself verbally objecting to her conscious question. Despite nobody being in the changing room with her, she felt embarrassed.

* * *

_In the teachers' dorms_

Conman softly sighed to himself as he set the kettle filled with tap water on the electric stove. His hand reached for one of the four knobs aligned above the oven door and slowly set the temperature to "HI".

After leaving the stove alone to let it do its job, he strode over to a large laptop that quaintly sat on his desk. The screen was flipped open and the light from the monitor shined throughout the room, signifying its running power. Next to the laptop was a binder filled with grade sheets containing the scores of the work, quizzes and tests completed by the students. Clasping the mouse that had its cord attached to the backside of the portable computer, he guided the arrow to a certain icon on the screen before double-clicking on it. Instantly, in just about a decasecond, the program linked to the icon activated itself, replacing the wallpaper of neo-graphic art with a window of a teacher's grading program he installed not long after his first day of teaching. He accessed the rows of students' names separated by columns displaying the scores given from their work on school assignments already imputed into the grading criteria. Negi had e-mailed him the scores from his own laptop not long after he had arrived in Wales, so it saved Constantine a lot of trouble of re-imputing the girls' grades all the way from Day One when they started their eighth year of school and concurrently, Negi becoming a teacher. At a speed that would be considered phenomenal, the bottom ends of his fingers started hammering away at the smooth keys of the laptop. He merely side-glanced at the grade sheet to look at the number imprinted on the grading page before pressing the corresponding numbers to input them into the little squares of the computorial grading page.

After managing to input the last score into the records, his ears caught the high-pitched shriek of the hissing and bubbling fury of the hot kettle steaming like a house on fire on the stove. Constantine got out of his seat and walked over to the kitchenette to turn it off. He opened a cabinet to take out a glass teapot that bore a strainer inside. He reached inside to take out another item, which was a flat yet wide box. He took off the top and took out a small bulb of compressed aged Pu Erh tealeaves. After dropping the small bulb into the strainer of the teapot, he picked up the hot kettle, flipped open the pouring end, and let the scalding water flow in.

After filling up the teapot, in which the hot water within the glass interior was slowly turning into a wood-like dark brown, he finally got himself a mug from the cabinet. Constantine made his way back to his computer after pouring himself a nice hot cup of tea with a few cubes of ice dropped in to make it more tepid. Setting his beverage to the left side of the desk, a distance away so it wouldn't spill on the keyboard, he clasped the mouse again and resumed his work.

He guided his arrow on the screen to another icon and double-clicked. A window flashed open, revealing a vibrating, neon-green sound graph. A digital chart displaying a set of numbers was at the side, the digits increasing and decreasing at consistent intervals. The light of the jolting and undulating neon lines of the digital sound graph reflected against glasses, concealing his eyes' examination of the data displayed on the program he activated.

This program the occultist had on his computer was something he encoded and programmed himself. It was a program similar to the devices used by paranormal investigators to record electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) that people would see on late-night television. The main difference was that his computer-programmed version didn't record the voices of the departed that roam throughout the faces of land and sea, it record their ectoplasmic presence. He had a special device implanted within his laptop that sent out programmed wave signals that would span over a specified radius meant to search for anything out of the ordinary that might catch his attention.

After a few brief seconds of reading and several clicks of his mouse, his fingers once again shifted to the keyboard and started to type away at a speed that resembled speeding bullets flying from the shooting end of a submachine gun and impacting on bulletproof glass. At somewhat random intervals he'd halt his rapid typing a reach for the mouse to click once, twice or thrice before resuming his keypunching. He was extremely skilled in the methodic rhythm of hitting computer keys with the tip-end of your fingers. It was like playing the drums or the xylophone, except the main difference between the typer and the drummer is that the former uses both his hands and his eyes to make sure he doesn't make even the most miniscule of mistakes.

He was very nearly finished in making modifications to his own spirit-detection program by writing in data format before his psychic senses suddenly made an alert. His fingers almost instantaneously froze in the air in the middle of his typing process. He tilted his head towards the large window that was next to his desk. The blinds were shut so he wouldn't know what was out there. He had two questions in his mind, should he take a look, or should he just ignore his paranoia and just continue working?

Disregarding the latter, he got out of his seat, taking the mug of warm tea in his hand and holding it close to his stomach. After he opened the blinds he made he little check of the outside vicinity the window provided view of. His dark eyes darted here to there, to any view of the area the he can see. No one here, no one there, just outside night sky, the gleaming lightpoles that stood tall and strong outside, and the tree that stood outside the building.

After his small accessment and a small scoff through his lips, he poked back in to resume his work.

_"Goddam school work's getting to me,"_ he bitterly thought.

Back outside, two figures walked out from behind the tree that stood outside the faculty building. One was the diminutive yet ominous Evangeline McDowell, she wore her usual, vaudevillian black cloak whenever she decided to go out in the night. The other person, who stood at around 5'7" stood next to her. Her long mane of margarita lime-green hair floated gently in the night wind as shore also bore two bunny rabbit ear-like antennae that stood out from the sides of her head. Chachamaru Karakuri and her master stared up at the lighted window of Constantine's dorm room, both clad in their school uniforms. Their pale skin, which were as white as the fur of snowshoes glowed in the moonlight that shone down on the academy, making them seem like two spirits haunting the school. The android's visual sensors focused their attention to the high window way above, her x-ray implants within the artificial crystal blue orbs for eyes scanned the interior of Constantine's apartment, as if she was making a speculation of what he was doing inside.

Evangeline on the other hand merely stared at the window where Constantine peeked through and failed to notice herself and her accomplice.

Once again, the pale rosy lips of the vampiress curved into a cold smile.

_The next day…_

It was just another day in class. The black-haired teacher sat at his desk while the girls merely scratched away at their papers with their pencils, finishing a quickwrite that their teacher ordered them to do in the middle of class. Once they were finished, they would be allowed to have the rest of the period as free time, as long as they were quiet.

Constantine sat at the teacher's desk as he leaned his head in his hand and absent-mindedly drifted off to his own sub-consciousness, unaware of the activities of the girls before him. His lazy, onyx-like irises and pupils focused fixatedly at the window that was at his right. His gray computer bag sat on the floor, leaning on the foot of the desk, its presence ignored. On the left side of the desk's surface was a building stack of papers. Each girl who had finished writing would quietly step up to his desk and lay her paper on its surface, as they turn around one or two of them would do a double-take and stare at their silent substitute professor, wondering why he was spacing out.

As most of the girls finished their classwork, some of them went on to their own business. Others, however, took the time to stare at their brooding teacher, seemingly admiring how cute he looks in his pondering state.

Makie decided to break the ice.

"Hey what's the matter with Professor Leigh?"

Next to her, the bell-haired Asuna answered, "Who knows? You should ask him yourself, he's only like fifteen feet away from you."

Her deskmate, Konoka, stated on the contrary, "I don't know Asuna, he looks cute sitting there all quiet and reserved," with a smile.

Makie cupped her glowing cheeks with her hands her voice transitioning to a tone that was tainted with swooning adoration, "Oh, I couldn't dream of breaking that melancholy stare of his!"

One of the cheerleaders next to her, Sakurako, agreed, "Yeah, it would be such a shame to ask him questions and interrupt that oh-so adorable brooding!"

The group of girls around them including Makie and Sakurako then let out a unanimous squeal of fondness over their sub's pensive demeanor, reminiscing that of love-struck American schoolgirls.

Asuna just stared at the group with a quizzical look in her mismatched eyes before rolling them in disbelief. She then focused her view back on Constantine. In the mind of the redhead all that the new teacher has done in his spare time was be all moody and pensive, and for some reason it irked her.

Chisame concurred the reaction of the bell-haired female with a silent snort through her nostrils. _"Idiots."_ She thought of them. Her deskmate Yue probably might have the same thought more-or-less as she blandly stared at the whimsy group of her classmates.

The bespectacled, green-haired girl shifted her gaze to her professor who kept his gaze at the window. She angled her brows in a manner that displayed criticism of a person. Didn't that idiot know that he should do better than to daydream in the middle of his job? She thought for a moment, dwelling on the assumption that the tall young man was probably having dirty thoughts, maybe playing a mental scenario of doing something perverted with her naive classmates.

Chisame then whipped her head to the side her long green-ponytail almost making contact to the back of Yue's head. Forget him! Why must she care about that tall nitwit anyway? She couldn't possibly care less about boys no matter how handsome they were.

Next to her, only a mere few feet away, Evangeline sat at her lone desk table, no deskmate to share it with-not that she'd want to anyway-and like the other girls in her class she undeviatingly kept her direct eye contact with the pondering visage of Leigh Constantine. Her eyes, whose irises where glittering like the sparkles of stone emeralds, kept their sole focus on Constantine's turned face.

It might have be a frivolous hunch, but somewhere in the psyche of Constantine's mind, something bad was afoot.

* * *

_**Wales, United Kingdom**_

Over uncountable thousands of miles away, crossing the Sea of Japan, the entire continent of Asia, and heading through the Northwest direction of Europe, a boy slept in a cool comfy bed. His small body was encompassed by the comfort of a bed sheet and his head cushioned by the plushness of a white pillow. He wasn't alone in the bed, no. A young woman in her teens cuddled the boy close to her as she wrapped her powerful arms tightly around his fragile body.

Negi's closed eyelids were vibrating with the sensation of a jittery chipmunk chewing on an acorn. His eyebrows twitched and his thin, tiny lips trembled as quickly as his rising palpitations in his chest. The little boy was currently in the state of rapid-eye movement sleep, or REM sleep to be short. To it in general terms, Negi was dreaming. And judging be the quickness of his breathing and the quick cringes of his little cheeks and the soft yet firm clasping of his mouth, he was not having a good dream.

Deep within the imaginative realm of the brain of the prodigal boy-genius, there was a bloody battle going on that was ravaging the poor boy from the inside out. He was standing in the middle of a lush green plain, but not green anymore because the grass was painted with red, the color of blood. Fire emblazed large patches of the field, and were spreading, burning any and all things that stood in its path. He was still clad in his baby blue pajamas, but the light of the fire glaring against the blood made his clothing red, blending in with the gory scenery. In the middle of a scenario of a battlefield, there was bound to be warriors fighting in it. There were wizards who wielded wands, staffs, swords and any weapon that bore magical power. Their opponents were hordes of monsters that Negi had never seen before, nor read about in any book about magical creatures. All of these bestial entities that fought the wizards were beyond hideous in their own gruesome ways. From what the frightened little mage could make out, the majority of the demons' faces were mostly eaten away like rotting vegetables and decaying feces. Their bodies resembled that of corpses that were in the midst of atrophing into a disgusting waste. But what affected Negi the most was the smell these monsters gave off. The smell that emanated from the bodies of these beast were beyond the foul odor of rotting eggs and human sewage, it was a smell that was noxious enough to poison the mind and the spirit.

In the midst of this Waterloo-scenario battlefield, the demons were severely overcoming the straining efforts of the mages who were being mercilessly ravaged by their slaying claws and maws. Their bodies spayed open, revealing what horrors lie underneath the layers of skin, fat and muscle. The blasts of magical and mystical energy conjured by the wizards on the battlefield did little but stun the demons that were swarming all over them like angry piranhas.

At the periphery of Negi's dreaming vision was the outskirt of the battlefield, a sight that was atrocious beyond all reasoning. There were rows upon rows of tall metal crosses, each with a human impaled through the top spike, and they were still alive. Each victim was worthlessly squirming on the cross, trying to get their skewered carcasses out of the pain that was raging throughout their bodies. But their useless efforts only made them slide down more into the impaling spikes of the metal crosses, inducing screams laced with excoriation. Eventually, imp-like creatures with bat-like wings would swoop down on one of the impaled victims, their bodies decayed and faceless like their fellow demons fighting on the battlefield, and would proudly feast. This scenario was well beyond the line of what a Hollywood horror could bring to a viewer.

Negi couldn't stand that sight before him and shifted his gaze back to where he was standing, the battle before him. Terror that has never bee felt before raced throughout every capillary and every nerve ending his system. Fear and horrification replaced his blood and ability to think and feel. His internal organs felt as though they were drowned in a flood of liquid nitrogen. He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, but in any direction he fled there was always a horrific sight waiting to be beheld. In the back of the boy's mind, he thought why couldn't the monsters see him? Was he witnessing a memory of horrible magical history? Why him of all people? Why rape the innocence of such a small boy who had yet to clasp the strings of maturity?

He then suddenly ran to a stop as his mahogany eyes fell upon a sight that made his face display the utmost horror a human can show. A man with burgundy-black hair with his own and a face-or what was left of it-shaped like own was hanging on an iron upside-down cross that stood tall and dominant before poor, shell-shocked Negi Springfield. He gazed upon the crucified mutilated corpse of his father, Nagi Springfield, who stared back lifelessly at his own son. The man's face was frozen in awe-struck horror, an eye still attached to its nerve hung out of its socket while the other remained in its place, blank and empty focused on Negi like the lifeless eye of a man in a portrait. Most of his face had been eaten away, and only bits of his skin clung onto whatever was left of the muscles and blood veins that encased the corpse's skull like frayed rags. The robes that adorned the man's body were torn open, revealing his body that was throughly sliced open, including the entrails that hung out like worms.

Negi had no time to shriek as loud as his lungs could induce, for another gruesome figure appeared from behind the cross and made its way toward him. The evil figure stood at ten-feet tall, its lanky yet brutally muscular body was concealed in a tightsuit of shadows. The devilish horns stood on the top of the entity's head, proud showing its hellish sharpness. Negi couldn't speak, his voicebox had seemingly died, his legs were lock in place as if they were planted into the earth. He lost control of all of his bodily functions as his tear glands, sweat glands, and urinary glands immediately released their respective fluids. The creature looked down at him, but not with eyes, because there were no eyes. It opened its orifice for a mouth, revealing rows upon rows of teeth that can cut through human bone in one chomp. Acetone-like saliva dripped off the points of its teeth like stalactite dripping water. An inhuman growl trilled out of its throat, an evil sound full of the utmost malice that would make the most stolid of humans flinch in fear. With an eardrum-piercing predatory cry, the creature lunged itself at Negi's head, its malicious maws wide open...

The preadolescent's eyes shot open, a river tears burst from his eyelids. His mind still held the fragments of all of the petrifying death he was forced to witness. At the very moment images of those horrendous scenes played out before the little boy's very eyes, he let out a bloodcurdling scream. The sound waves scream that pierced the calm silence like a sharp razor resounded throughout the night of Wales like a fissure.

* * *

_Back at Mahora Academy…_

Constantine eyelids made a slight jerk as he felt a sort of faint pang-not in the body, but to the mind-yet it was strong enough to resemble the jolting beat of an active human heart. He still remained in his pensive, semi-dozing state, but he couldn't help but feel somewhat…discomforted by sudden twinge in his psyche. Something felt wrong, his telepathic radar picked up something from a distance that was not pleasant at all. Fatigue started spread across his forehead, obscuring the clearness of his vision and halting his train of thought. He took off his sleek spectacles to rub at his eyelids and at his temples in an effort to coax the unusual moment of wooziness.

He then felt a nudge on the base of his shoulder bone, it felt like a soft hand of some sort massaging the muscle. He angled his head up and shifted his eyes to meet the visage of the dandelion-haired class president. She seemed calm yet there was a bit of concern in her face.

In a gentle voice she asked, "Professor Constantine, are you feeling alright?"

Constantine merely blankly stared up at her for a pinch, a bit confused of what she was concerned over. He then shifted his gaze over to the collective of thirty pairs of eyes staring straight at him. The immediately halted their current activities as they noticed the brief period of disposition. The occultist teacher just shifted his eyes back and forth from the visage of his class and back to Class President Ayaka, his own act of saying "what, what is it?".

Ayaka could x-ray read through the act, she leaned forward, her shiny face only a mere inches away from the sickly pale face of Constantine. "I've noticed you've been looking troubled, are you not feeling well?" she asked.

She then reached out with her hand and slipped it under his black bangs of hair, resting the soft palm and fingers against his hard forehead. The thought of shrinking back from her touch briefly flickered in his mind, but his didn't want to seem like he's rejecting her. For a beat, she kept her hand against his forehead, her feelers absorbing the warmth from the skin flowing through her arm and spreading it through her nerves. She deeply, yet silently took smells of his scent.

'_My, he smells so manly.'_ She mentally sighs.

The two failed to recognize the growing looks of jealousy and surprise of the girls, some of whom were staring to feel a little jealous of their Class Representative's course of action.

Just then, another girl appeared at the side Constantine. It was Lingshen who was holding a bamboo steam box, standing close to him with a smile.

"If you're not feeling well, try one of these!" the Chinese girl said opening the top, revealing four piping hot flour buns in the box.

"They're filled with pork, ginger, garlic, onion and lots of good stuff to cure what ails you, sir!"

She then held out a bun for Constantine to eat.

"Here, try one!"

Before Constantine could respond, he could feel another presence coming over him. The teacher looked at both sides to see chocolate-brown locks of hair. He looked up to see the friendly and adoring face and bulbous appendages of the ever-so cheerful Chizuru Naba. She smiled at Constantine with her near-closed eyes, looking at him caringly through the glasses that concealed his eyes. She spoke in her voice that was as sweet as honey.

"If you have a headache, Mr. Leigh, I can give you a massage to make you feel better," she then opened her eyes and smiled at him, adding a guinea pig-like giggle.

Constantine merely stared back with empty eyes, no reaction whatsoever. Some of the other girls however reacted at three of their classmates' so-forward advances. They shot up out of their seats to offer their own "services" for him.

"We can give you a foot massage, Mr. Leigh!" Fuka and Fumika shouted.

"I can make you some tea!" Madoka emphatically suggested.

"I can carry you to bed!" yelled an enthusiastic Sakurako.

"I'll fluff up your pillow!" declared Yuna.

'_The yelling will cease or the killing will commence…' _Constantine inwardly threatened. The raven-haired teenager once again found himself surrounded by a large pack of his students. Each of them was trying to shove one of another away to get a chance to "care" for him. Constantine could only sit back with his pale face in a pale expression.

He then shifted a lazy onyx eye to a seat, beyond one of the lenses of his glasses. He tuned up his psychic pupil and examined the area, whose view was not blocked by the girls surrounding him.

Sayo Aisaka reappeared within the vision of his cornea. She, as all of the other students who weren't out their desks hounding him, could only stare at him. It then suddenly sparked within the departed soul's mind that her substitute teacher was NOT, in fact, staring lazily, but actually staring straight at her! She couldn't believe it, but she had to, the very question she had never asked before was this…

'_Can he see me?'_

_--_

* * *

_-- _

A/N: That's it, Ch.4 will be coming around sooner or later. (Hmm. Mostly later...) Well, please give me a review or so, they'll help keep me going. Well what the hell are you waiting for?! Do it! DO IT **NAOUGHW**!!


	4. Fascinations

A/N: Disclaimer still stands. Until I can get a copyright, I unofficially own _Leigh Constantine_. I want to give thanks to RobDaZombie for one of stories giving me the concept of how I should continue my story.

Now there is no excuse for me holding out on this chapter for so long, and no acceptable apology can come out of it. Unfortunately, there won't be any action scene here in this chapter, just some old-fashioned humor to carry the plot along. Also, there are some parts in which you may start hating my character.

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**Chapter 4: Fascinations**

**"Trying to be fascinating is an asinine position to be in."-Katherine Hepburn**

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Wales, United Kingdom Present Day

Negi Springfield sat upright in his bed, soaked in a shower of sweat. His "sister" Nekane was abruptly woken by his shriek of terror, and was at the moment comforting her little ward. The nightmare was beyond shellshocking, a vision of the most grisy of macabre practically shattered the innocence of the pre-adolescent sorceror. After the last of his breaths retired from his throat, the little wizard collapsed into tearful sobbing, with a distraught big sister wrapping her arms around him in comforting haven. As Nekane patted his back and whispered softly into his ear to ease the trauma that occurred in his sleep, she got into deep thinking.

What was it that her little ward dreamed of that broke his psyche like glass? She felt a very disturbing sensation in her magically enhanced instincts as she heard Negi cry out. Something otherworldy, something perversely deranged was probably tapping within the recesses of poor Negi's mind to send in these images of horror. The question was why? Negi IS the Thousand Master's son, which would make him the target of any power-hungry fiend. Then again, there is a potent magical barrier bounding the premises of where they lived. If anything, no matter how faint had tripped in, she would have known in a lightning-fast instant.

She will have to notify Constantine of this soon, but right now she needed to get some tissues.

…and some towels.

* * *

Mahora Academy, Japan

_9:00 AM in the morning_

The sound of a piece of chalk scratching against a hard, squeaky surface emanated from within the classroom of 2-A. Constantine stood tall in front of the blackboard his back facing the many girls seated at their tables. He had a piece of dusty white chalk in his left hand, etching down class notes on the green surface of the blackboard. The muscles in his fingers firmly held the writing utensil in their grasp, mutinously rubbing the chalk against the wall, smooth lines of each letter and tiny floating particles being left in its chalk's wake.

The wrist of Constantine's left hand still had its large-faced Timex Men's Ironman Dual-Tech Watch wrapped around. Artificial digits of each second passing were being counted down on its display followed by the tiny needles that pinpointed the dashes around the clock.

He was still clad in his usual choice of attire: black khaki slacks held up by a leather belt with a silver buckle; a clean buttoned-up white dress shirt with a chest pocket made out of 100 smooth silk (Constantine remembers that it, like others he owned, cost him quite a pocketful of cash); a black silk tie loosely wrapped around the collar, tied into a half-winsor knot; and his polyester black blazer still covering his back and shoulders. On his size 14 feet were a pair of black leather ankle-high shoes with straps, the elevation given by the heels and soles gave his natural 189 centimeter height to a more awespiring level.

As he finished the last of the letters of the class notes for the girls to take down, he turned his head to face his class, much to the dismay to the occupants of the front desk of the middle row. Sakurako and Ayaka spent quite a deal of time gazing at the well-built nates of Constantine's, the best seat in the house for any teenage girl with a teenage boy teacher.+

"Alright," he spoke loud and clear, "who can explain this to me, 'When a long train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right it is their duty to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.'"

This was direct quote from the legendary American document known as the Declaration of Independence. The one of their very few of creations throughout any universe that was formulated by human minds and honored by human hands. Neither the angels from above nor the demons from below that Constantine had always fought dared any involvement in any of the matters of libertarian work mortals wished to induct.

The serene sound of silence was the only answer he received by any of the girls. Whenever he would direct his eyes to any of them they would instantaneously look away.

"Okay, then," Constantine replied, _"sometimes their heads are as empty as a promise."_

Constantine had to put into consideration of teaching the principles of American political documents to his class of thirty-one, mature-bodied thirteen-year olds. Despite not this being a history class, he thought it would be imperative to teach the fundamental values of liberty. Besides, they're very intelligent people, a few of them were actually smarter than they should (Satomi and Lingshen) be. He can see the auras of ambition radiating off each and every one of the girls like the ultraviolet waves of the sun, definite signs of independent individuals. He liked those kind of people.

"'When a long train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism,'" Constantine quoted, "means a group such as a government that has become oppressive on their own people and coerces their own values that built them in the first place," he specified. "I mean think of it, the Russian Revolution, the French Revolution, every world civilization that fell under tyrannical rule and had influenced nothing but fear and malice upon the innocent?" the teenage professor question with cold steel in his tone.

The girls nodded their heads in affirmation, most of them following every word that was intoned by Constantine's deep voice.

"Well," Constantine continued, "'they', who are the people, possess the ability and obligation to overthrow their tyrannical rulers and establish a brand new government of their own."

"How can they?" one of the girls asked.

"They just CAN." Constantine answered. "We, as humans, are gifted and rightful into pursuing are own goals and desires. Anyone who has the audacity to impede us in living a life of harmonious peace by forcing us to live in a life of decadence should see an eye for an eye. Beat them at their own game," he then began gesturing with his signature "cobra" for added effect, "You're all human beings, and you all deserve pursuing your own happiness and living the life you choose, no questions asked. No one dares to take that right away, let alone tell you can't do anything."

"But what IF someone dares to tell us we can't do it?" Makie asks him with her hand in the air.

"Tell them two words, the second one's 'off'," Constantine answered matter-of-factly.

A chorus of "ooo's" reacted to their substitute teacher's suggestion of brazenness. The girls then shifted to excited chatter of how smart their substitute teacher is and how inspiring his words were.

Meanwhile in the back, two individuals were contemplating the words of "wisdom" Constantine had addressed to them.

Evangeline McDowell deciphered his words within the realm of her dark, virulent mind. She couldn't care less about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. She didn't see them as rights, only privileges that can be given to the most worthy of beings in the world. Yet, her new professor's humanist views on life somewhat intrigued her. Ever since Constantine had arrived here, she and her android-in-crime had always been keeping a very close eye on him. If Negi's friend was indeed a magus, he might possess the knowledge she may need to free herself from the mystic bounds that binded her to the grounds of the school. Evangeline would have a bone to pick with him later.

About several feet on her left, Chisame sat at her seat with her head resting on the palm and fingers of her left hand. She couldn't deny that her professor's thoughts were valid, but the critical side of her mind thought otherwise. An irrational part of her felt as though Constantine only spoke his nonsense just so he could woo her naïve classmates over, the big womanizer. In addition, what her professor had just said is completely hypocritical to the beliefs of his home country's government that he lived under. That's what she believed most Americans were, such little hypocrites.

But no doubt, Chisame enjoyed the pleasures of American culture that was imported over to Japan. She enjoyed the food, the home products, the technology, and the TV shows that Americans had produced (her particular favorite was _Friends_). Despite her respect to their culture, she didn't like their principles of society. Like any other Japanese inhabitant, she wouldn't forgive the Americans for dropping two atomic bombs on their cities. Her great grandmother was one of the victims who died from the after-effects of radiation poisoning that followed the cataclysmic explosions. She hated the Americans' boisterous, self-righteous arrogance in their irrational invasion of the Middle East. And their ignorance in caring for the welfare of their own frivolous problems and ignoring all the other major problems all over the world such as in Africa was beyond tolerable. In her mind, the United States was nothing short but of a big, cowardly redneck bully. It would be a miracle that the entire nation would make it through the next fifty years without deteriorating into pure anarchy like what happens on its "ghetto" streets.

To add more insult to irritation, she heard the eardrum-rumbling voice of her obnoxious class president.

"Ah! A most inspiring speech, Professor Constantine!" she swooned ardently, "Professor Springfield would have certainly agreed! You are a fountain of aspiration, sir!"

"Oh, cram it, Goldilocks! Do you always have to be such a kiss-ass!" her rival heckled.

"Shut it bells!" Ayaka retorted indignantly, she was upset that Asuna had no respect let alone recognition for knowledge, "how would your primitive little monkey brain understand anyway, I can see you've been drifting off as usual!" Then Ayaka's voice turned sneerish, "having more of your erotic dreams with your _beloved_ Professor Takahata?"

"What'd you SAY?! Look who's talking Scarlet O'Harlot!" Asuna roared.

"Excuse **ME?!**" Ayaka rebuffed harshly.

"_Enough!_" Constantine firmly ordered between the two before another brawl would ensue. After hearing that, Ayaka ardently apologized, cooly getting back down to her seat. Asuna, on the other, hand just sat back down with a huff, not daring to look into her substitute teacher's eyes.

The teen then looked at the student who had first piqed his interest ever since his arrival. The green-head remained in her own seat that sat distantly in the back of the classroom. Hardly any dialogue had ever been exchanged been the two bespectacled teens, just the occasional curious yet uncaring glaces by Constantine and the shady leers by Chisame. The moment of their second encounter bubbled within the two's minds.

_In Library Island, a few days prior…_

_Chisame got up from one of the study tables after deactivating her laptop. She had finally finished her hard-thought out research essay and was ready to head back to her room for a quick rest and a traditional night of glamor and poise of Chiu. With her head aching from putting down her thoughts with facts into the Word document, she marched right out of the study hall to the nearest elevator._

_The raven-haired sorceror came out from another part of the library with a few moth-chewed books tucked underneath his arm. They were spellbooks Takahata had referred him to as well as a few novels recommended to him by the Library Exploration Club, and they were very hard to come by when walking around the gargantuan archives of Library Island. The hallowed walls and shelves of a plethora of literature and information soley reminded him of the Library of Congress and the British Library he had visited before. Finally reaching one of the elevator doors he pressed the button which made them almost instantaneously slide open for him. Stepping inside, he pressed the button for the ground floor. As the doors began to slowly close before him he noticed a green-haired girl with glasses jogging to the elevator. _

_The net idol hurredly moved her legs to the closing doors for whom she recognized her teacher was standing behind. Putting away her grudge against him for the moment she called out to him to wait and hold the doors. Constantine instantly identified her as the rude yet adorably beautiful doll, yet he didn't bother to place a finger on the open button to open the doors for her._

_As the doors were half way closing, Chisame asked him, "Are you going down?" _

"_Not if I can help it," was Constantine's cryptic response as the doors finally closed on him, leaving an astounded Chisame gaping outside the elevator. Inwardly, Constantine was smirking to himself. _

Chisame was still miffed by that day, she couldn't believe that her own teacher would _dare_ shun her off by letting the doors close on her. If he was trying to get back at her for all of those leers she had been sending his way he certainly did a four-star job. She'd get back at him, **someday.**

Suddenly a black house fly flew in front of her face, it then zoomed around the classroom flanking across the girls, who swatted at it away. After a few seconds of hovering around with its annoying buzzing and impending urge to bite someone, it promptly landed on the teacher's desk. Constantine smartly took up a handbook and squashed it swiftly.

Meanwhile outside, several cicadas clung to a tree, their compound eyes made up of thousands upon thousands of hexagonal lenses peers from their spot into the classroom where the class of 2A and their teacher. Their focus kept on the raven-haired professor himself, as if they were watching him…intently.

"I know you were staring at his ass," a hiss said in the classroom.

"**Shut up!**" the other voice fiercely hissed back.

"I heard that," drawled Constantine. Needless to say, Ayaka's face stayed red the rest of the class period. But she, like many of her fellow classmates, couldn't help but stare at his masculine frame. For he was too...fascinating.

* * *

Constantine stepped outside on the school grounds, taking deep breaths of nature's oxygen. He found a bench underneath a willowing cherry blossom tree and decided to sit down. The young man took his satchel and set it on his lap, quizzically wondering why it suddenly felt heavier as he left the classroom. As he unzipped the opening, a small furry white head with cat-like ears and whiskers popped out.

"What's up Conman?"

Constantine jerked back a little in surprise. He should have known that Chamo had been ducking out in his bag the entire time. The ermine's beady little black eyes gleamed with a conscience of mischievousness that the mystic adjusted to.

In response, Constantine asked, "How long have you been in there and how did you get in?"

"Oh, about an hour or so, I climbed in while you were in the teachers' office when you weren't looking. I was hoping if you've brought something for your dear old pal, 'Cham." Chamo answered, miffed at the fact he didn't find any gifts for him let alone a 'hello' from his friend.

"Like I'd bring you a Playboy," Constantine scoffed blandly.

The snow-white ermine drooled at that thought.

"Anyway, what do you want, Chamo? What's on your mind?" Constantine didn't want to waste any time, he needed to go to the Dean's office to talk about his private lab.

Chamo crawled out of Constantine's satchel and hopped onto the bench next to him. The ermine cricked his neck and arched his back, relieved to finally be out of that hot and cramped space. He stood up in a professional manner with his paws on his hips.

"What's always on my mind, Conman, business, and I've got a proposition that I doubt you'll refuse," the ermine sneered.

Constantine heard that phrase and variations of it thousands and thousands of times and quite frankly was too damn tired to make any deals…at least for today. Deciding to turn him down, he started, "Listen, Holmes, I'm exhausted, maybe another--,"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Chamo wouldn't have it, "Let me finish. I can tell you're bored, you're hungry for something, you want something new. Well, 'bro, how about this…"

Constantine bothered to listen.

"Why don't you make some Pactios?" Chamo had said with a glimmer in his eye.

The young man scoffed. He knew of the Pactio ritual that was done by the magicians of this world. It was some sort of requirement by Western mages in order to achieve higher rankings in their livelihood. It was more or less having a salesperson talking a witless consumer into a lifelong contract of a ripping sales pitch. Constantine didn't believe in dragging others into the endless worlds of incalculable peril and disaster, so he rejected the Pactio as a part of his library.

"Why the _hell_ would I want to do that?" he enunciated to the furry creature. He knew what Chamo would get at his end, a nice salary of ermine dollars to stroke his ego.

"Well come ON, Conman!" Chamo exclaimed, "You've got to get a girl sometimes! It's not healthy for ya to be alone without having a nice babe for you to romp around with!"

What would he know? Constantine had wanted to say but thought back on it.

Not wanting to take silence for an answer, Chamo continued, "Look, I've seen the way the girls of 2A look at ya. It's not the same when they look at Negi. When they look at the little squirt, they see a cuddly little teddy bear who's begging to be hugged. But when they see **you**," the smirked widened, "it's open season for love, baby," the ermine drawled surreptitiously.

Constantine had the urge to roll his eyes, but didn't want to seem rude. Actually, when he first got here he thought the female students here would grab torches and pitchforks and chase him out of the school. However it was a complete 180 of the reaction he expected. It was either the Japanese students here in this side of the academy were really nice, or completely insane.

"Your point?" he asked.

"I'll tell you what, you let me help you get some lip with some chicks here and give you half of what I make in my profits in ermine dollars. Who knows, I can even get you those Christian relics that you were lookin' for?"

Constantine thought on it for a while. Chamo DID have access to very rare magical and totemic items that could prove of good use to him. But if it meant have to go around, playing player, forget it.

Without a second thought, Constantine dissmissed him, "I'll think about it, holmes, thanks," the last part, he didn't really mean it.

"Wait, Conman!" Chamo called out to him in an effort to win his appeal.

"Thankyouhaveanicedaygoodbyeandscrewoff," the occultist droned quickly walking off, leaving the snowy rodent behind.

"Oh, come on Conman! Have a heart! Are you still mad at me for spiking Nekane's drink? Hey, it was just a joke! You shouldn't be such as stiff! She thinks you're HOT!"

Constantine had a piece of mind to run back and strangle the little critter. That little incident with Nekane when Chamo got her drunk was something he thoroughly wanted to put behind. Chamo still stood a the bench pouting to himself. Negi was cute, but his cuteness could only go so far. Ever since Constantine's arrival from who-knows-where, a fountain of ideas for scams had erupted into his mind. The occultist was tall, good-looking, and mild-mannered, the ideal man for any of the female gender. Chamo thought on it, and then he thought a little more. He would have to "help" Conman, in order to help himself, even if the American didn't ask for it. It would be tricky, because he knew from past knowledge that Constantine had a razor-sharp mind. Somehow, someway, he would make Leigh Constantine the ultimate gift among women.

* * *

Afternoon…

The black-suited sorcerer navigated his way down the corridors of the building of Science and Technology. He had spent the rest of the school day talking with the other teachers, eating lunch, and planning schoolwork. Today, the Dean had finally approved Constantine's request for a small private laboratory in the research division of Mahora's college campus. According to Takahata, Mahora's research materials and technology are the latest and most advanced of any college in the world.

He entered through the door to a large room filled with shelves full of books and large quantities of equipment. They took all shapes and sizes, beakers filled with chemicals steaming on Bunsen burners, a number of computers with large screens calculating their progress, little centrifuges carrying around tiny vials, robotic arms and other special gadgets left on the tables unfinished, and a variety of workshop tools and products such as screwdrivers, wires, wrenches, and data boards sat next to the them untouched.

Constantine strode to the middle of the room where he found two girls in clean, white lab coats standing around an operating table where the light of a large lamp hanging overhead shown around them. He recognized the hairstyles of the two lab-coated who were supposedly working on their project as students from his class.

"Excuse me," Constantine called out, grabbing their attention.

The two girls halted their work to turn around to see who addressed them, whom turned out to be Satomi and Lingshen. They greeted their surrogate professor with smiles.

"Oh! Hello, Professor Constantine!" Satomi greeted back.

"Hi, Mr. Leigh!" Lingshen said in conjunction.

The project that was on the operating table that the two were operating on suddenly sat up, much to Constantine's expressionless surprise. A bare-torsoed Chachamaru Karakuri instantly focused her visual sensors on the image of the tall young man in the black suit and tie. Her artificial lime-green mane embraced the shoulders and upper back of her android body in motion of her sitting up.

"Greetings, Professor Constantine, good afternoon," Chachamaru placidly greeted with her personally, programmed Victorian flair.

"Hello, Ms. Karakuri," Constantine replied, "ladies," he said pleasantly to the two child geniuses. One genius to another, or so to speak. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything," Constantine apologized, knowing that he interrupted their tune up on Chachamaru.

"Oh, it's okay," Lingshen dismissed, "we were just doing a little check-up on Cha-cha, here," she pointed out.

Constantine looked at the shirtless android sitting up on the operating table. Unlike most girls who would react by going into a rave, the lime-haired humanoid stared back at the raven-haired professor unperturbed by his presence. Her dull ocean-blue robotic irises surveyed every square millimeter of his face, scanning every detail of his facial features.

"So what brings you down here, Professor?" Satomi asked.

"I was assigned a small, private lab here and it seems I'm going to be next door from you two," he said.

The two scientist's eyebrows rose with curiosity. "I didn't know you were a major in this field too," Satomi said.

"Well, I'm a man of science as well as literature and philosophy," Constantine explained, _"and more so,"_ he said to himself. "And since I'm here I'm hoping to get know the three of you more."

Satomi and Lingshen smiled, "Oh, really? Well, good for you! Welcome to our lab!" the two said simultaneously at the end. "We were wondering what we were going to do with that extra room here, but we're happy to loan it to you," Lingshen said.

"Thanks," Constantine obliged.

"Well, we're done with Chachamaru here," Satomi pointed out, "so we'll go clear out the little room for you."

"Okay."

The two of them began to walk off, "just wait here and feel free to chat with Cha-Cha," Lingshen called to him.

Constantine nodded and then walked towards Chachamaru on the operating table.

"It's so nice to have someone who's about our age to come work here," Satomi said to her partner.

"But he's four years older than us," Lingshen corrected.

"Yeah, but he's…" Satomi paused for a while, her circular glasses gleaming for a beat, "very interesting," she finished.

The pigtailed girl never got the chance to know boys, nor had she have interest in them before. But ever since Constantine had arrived here, the interest had suddenly emerged like a submarine. He was a perfect…how should she say it? Specimen.

After the two scientists departed, Constantine strode closer to the female android who swerved her legs off the table, still topless. The two met eyes again, nebulous onyx of psychic irises parallel to infrared-visualizing cybernetic sapphire. The sorcerer stared through Chachamaru's windows as he would to any human. Ever since he first laid eyes upon the lime-haired girl, he knew she was quite a ways departing from the rest of her classmates, or from any human in particular. The rabbit-ear like antennae for ears sort of gave it away, but The robot held a heart, not one made of muscles and that pumps blood, but one of spirituality, a personality of her own if you will.

The moment of perplexing silence finally had itself calculated within Chachamaru's positronic brain. She knew that she was only in a state of half-dress and she was in the presence of a tall, facially-dashing male whom her master had taken an interest in. Her brain scrolled through the myriad of reactions that would be most appeasing to herself and to her professor. She knew that the option of driving her hard, robotic fist up into his chin was astronomically unacceptable. The only emotional response was sending a signal into the robotic functions of her face.

Constantine noticed a shine of apple-like red rubbing across Chachamaru's pale cheeks. Her eyes breaking off from visual contact of his to shift down, as well as her lips that scrunched down into a flustered frown. Her emotional expression she was currently was the one known as "embarrassment".

"I'm sorry for bursting in on you when you're like this," Constantine said, he knew it was beyond rude to come in on a female when she is in only partial dress. Then again, more girls have barged in on him rather than the former. But digressing back, he stared at the robotic torso of the android, examining the life-like curves.

"It is no problem at all, Professor Constantine," her artificial vocal cords trilled out, refusing to succumb to stuttering. This was the very first time a boy had been this close and was checking her out. But the emotion of acting flustered shouldn't overcome the judgment of the young android, as she re-establishes visual contact with his eyes. Unknowingst to him, her blue eyes activated their bio scan functions, reading every aspect of his body. From his biology to his magical energy, Chachamaru didn't miss a beat, this information would be valuable to her master.

Not knowing that the android was scanning him, or so one would think, Constantine continued his modest conversation with her.

"So, how do you think of me as a teacher, Ms. Karakuri?"

The android didn't answer straight away, for she was nearly done with her examination.

Constantine finally entered the lab, the size comparable to that of a cracker box. There was a long counter attached to the wall with cabinets underneath on one side with a sink and counter on the other, a few stools stood next to the counters, waiting for their occupant. To sum it all, a very modest, yet dusty room suitable for conducting his projects. He opened up his satchel and took a wide roll of masking tape. He stretched out a long piece and stuck one along each side of the doorway. He then took out a magic marker and began to meticulously sketch on the tape.

Outside, Chao and Satomi stretched their arms and cricked their backs after another day of work. Shortly, their satisfied teacher came out, about to leave the labs.

"Thanks for your help, ladies," he said.

Tinges of pink flashed across the two scientists' cheeks at being called "ladies". Quickly shrugging it off they smiled at him.

"No, problem Mr. Leigh, please come back anytime!" Lingshen said cheerfully.

"And if you need any help with your experiments, don't hesitate to ask us," Satomi added with a hint of eagerness.

Nodding politely to them, he made his way to the door.

Satomi stared on at the departing teacher. Constantine was certainly an interesting subject to analyze. She never knew why she had never taken an interest in the male species before, but for some reason, her new substitute teacher had piqued her curiosity. A teenage man, with an unbelievable height and buff build, with an intelligence no normal human can ever dream to achieve, and an air of mystery surrounding him like a thick mist, was something that had excited her. This boy was a potentially invaluable source of information, a brand new book waiting to be read, and Satomi wanted to open it…

The scientist's glasses suddenly glowed in the reflection of the lights above as a grin began to snake across her face. There was a brand new field she was ready to indulge herself in, the male gender.

As for her Chinese colleague, Lingshen shared almost an equal amount of interest in the new professor. An English major, a part-time scientist, what else did the newcomer had to offer? If the genius wanted to know how the cryptic mind under his cryptic personality works, she had to keep a close needle-sharp eye on him.

Specifically speaking, the scientists found Constantine to be...fascinating.

* * *

Constantine once again found himself outside, strolling along the campus groups. The soles of his boots were grinding against the hard pavement like the chalks on the blackboard he wrote on. Every female junior high student whom Constantine passed instantaneously halted their activity to observe the post-adolescent professor striding across their eyes; a domino effect of amour spreading to each girl in who caught the American in their eyes. Coos and squeals of infatuated passion escaped the lungs of each Japanese girl as their rosy red cheeks spread out into adulating smiles.

A golden-haired preadolescent beauty peered out from amidst the shadows. Her jade irises twinkled as the reflection of Constantine shone against the wet surface of her eyes. Another figure emerged from the darkness in the form of Chachamaru Karakuri, her pale expressionless mask for a face directed itself the same direction her master was watching. The near eighteen year old (or so he claimed to be) turned his head, knowing that he was being watched again. His right eye caught view of the little girl and her tall companion. The second Constantine established visual contact with Evangeline had suddenly transmutated into a prolonged eve of silence, as if all of reality had entered a laggard dimension. Two forces of unimaginable power had finally met with optics.

"…"

An ardent smile was what Evangeline gave back to him in response to his "hello".

The pause of time had instantaneously withdrawn as Constantine ended the visual transmission of acknowledgement of the girl's existence, he flashed a nod and to the android and continued on his merry way. The very perplexing sensation returned to the bowels of Chachamaru's circuit-lined body when he acknowledged her with the nod. Evangeline didn't notice her reaction as she retained her speculation on the black suit as he strode off farther and farther from her vision. A pair of honed fangs started to protrude from the sheath of her mouth as the very tip of her wet, pink tongue massaged her lips. A human representation of how a bestial predator had found its prey and its stomach would grumble with sheer appetite.

"Master?"

"What is it, Chachamaru?" It was uncommon for her servant to begin a conversation, but if the android had something on her mind, it would be of something of great interest.

"I must tell you that I have had a chance to encounter Professor Constantine and establish a conversation with him," she explained, "I have performed scans on him while we talking and was able to gather a substantial amount of data on his structure."

"I see," she droned, "what is he like?" she asked, not as her master, but only out of her own interest.

"His mana levels are been beyond those I have ever seen," she stated, without enthusiasm, "I doubt even Professor Springfield's levels are able to reach that sort of extent."

"Are you sure?"

"Affirmative, Master. Although, I must conduct further investigation on him in order to gather more data on his abilities." Chachamaru, angled her head down a little, "I must say, Master, Professor Constantine seems quite…fascinating."

A slight lift of an eyebrow and a small upward curve of Evangeline's lips were the first answer. It was the first time in a long time that Chachamaru had expressed a matter of opinion. However, this time, the opinion was correct in the view of the vampiress.

"Yes, Chachamaru," she concurred. The smile snaked further and further across her face, "Very fascinating."

She might have to pay Constantine a personal face-to-face visit soon.

* * *

Constantine continued forward. The force that the little girl had sent to him was like a letter attached to a speeding arrow, it was far from human. He knew she was a vampire, Negi had told him that Evangeline was a vampire, and he told him to be absolutely weary of her. The question that can spout into anybody's mind was, what hadn't she made her move? Well, if Constantine knew one thing about vampires it was that they were never straightforward. As for Ms. McDowell, the look she gave him was an indication that she knew he has powers of his own. The main difference that departed Constantine from Negi or any other magician in this world and others is that he didn't need a wand, or a a staff to perform wonders. Figuratively, Evangeline seems to know that as well, which would only pique her interest in him much farther.

If it was blood that the vampire wanted to snack on, she would have to find someone else, his blood is nothing a vampire, let alone any plasma-hungry demon would want to taste.

A conditioning gust of wind grazed Constantine's cheeks. A volley of leaves flew along with the wind like little kites, brushing against his body. He suddenly felt little taps cascading against his boots; he looked down and saw a clutter of leaves on the ground, grouping together that vaguely resembled a letter in the alphabet. The soft breeze blew again, blowing in more leaves and some away, the leaves hideously stringed together a clear letter on the pavement. More leaves blew in landing in a certain spot to complete a piece of a letter which in turn, completed more of the word. Constantine stood in knitted silence as the wind continued carrying more leaves to string together a sentence.

**You will soon encounter**

Constantine's sole suddenly swept away the leaves before the wind could finish the supernatural message. To hell with it, he was in no mood for intangible events to present themselves before him. All he wanted to do was to pop back into his room, pour himself a glass of bitters and he'll be right as rain. No shit for arguing with that.

"Mr. Leigh!" two voices shouted to him.

Constantine turned to the source of the simultaneous calls; before he could identify them, he felt two powerful forces ram him onto the ground. He saw two blurs of pink before his eyes upon impact. He lifted his head up the ground the eye the two weights holding him down, they were none other than the adorable Narutaki twins, Fuka and Fumika.

"Hello, misses," he greeted to them flatly.

The sourness of his voice seemed to have slicked off of the hyperactive twins as their heart-melting smiles of adoration shone before him like two hot suns. They then began speaking in intervals, one finishing the next part of the sentence.

"Since you have nothing to do— "

"—for the rest of today— "

"—we were wondering—"

"—that we can give you—"

"—a personal guided tour, courtesy of the strolling club!" In which this part they both spoke together, raising their clasped hands together in the sky.

Strolling club? Well, Constantine never really took the time to browse around the gigantic school grounds. In fact, that incredibly huge map that Negi gave him was left untouched, merely lying motionlessly on the coffee table in his room. Was he interested in what other pleasures Mahora had to offer? Maybe. Did he feel like it at the moment? Well…

"Well thanks, buds, but I'm pretty worn out, so I got to…" he paused for a beat.

Then both the twin's heads hung low, "So does that mean—"

"—you don't want to—"

"—be with us?"

"Well, I just—"

"PLEEEEEAAASE?!" they squealed to him, their eyes glittering like newly polished gems.

Constantine winced internally, _"Aw, Jesus, don't give me those looks."_ He left the twins hanging there for a beat and they continued to stare stars at him. He let out a soft breath of carbon dioxide out of his nostrils as he confirmed to the puppy-eyed girls, "Alright, let's go."

"YAY!" the both of them cheered, brightening up all of a sudden. Not waiting for more words, Fuka and Fumika each grabbed a hand of Constantine and dragged him off. "It'll be fun!" the twins added, dragging him off. Forlorn silence was the only response the Conman could give.

The first "attraction" they visited was the Exclusive Gym, a massive indoor hall filled with girls who were participating in their daily team sports practices. Much to Constantine's chagrin, Fuka had to call over every girl to take a gander at the "hunkster" who is gracing them with his presence. At that very moment after she made that announcement, each and every girl in the vicinity had halted their current activity to focus their attention to the man at hand. The one who stood at a lofty 6'2" and a broad build that many in this country of the Rising Sun would consider as a giant's greeted with one word.

"Sup?"

Silence hung again like the droplet of water hanging from the tip of an icicle. But it broke faster than a falling vase on hardwood floor when a majority of the girls abandoned their practice to crowd around the annoyed occultist, squealing so much that it hurt his ears. Like Negi's students, some didn't hesitate to finger his shoulders, arms or his torso.

"Oh, wow! You're as cute as that little kid teacher who came here!" a girl cooed to him, cupping his jaw.

"Are you still single?" another asked.

"Will you take me out?" a third begged.

"Marry me?" a fourth squealed to him ardently.

It was the very same scenario Constantine usually found himself in, almost every time when he visits Japan. An assemblage of hormone-induced Japanese schoolgirls would badger him to no end, offering to rub his shoulders and become his lover. Then it would desolate into the newfound fangirls shoving and tearing into each other shouting "He's mine! He's mine!" Many times, he found himself being pulled at his arms in a humiliating tug-of-war competition. Quite frankly, he was goddamned sick and tired of it.

"Come on, Mr. Leigh, we'll show you around the gym," Fumika said grabbing his hand dragging him along on the tour. Some of the girls still held on to Constantine as he followed the pink-haired twins. They stopped at the basketball court where he met the flamboyant Yuna who waved madly to him upon noticing his presence. Unfortunately she failed to her eye on the basketball for it landed squarely on her head, knocking her out cold.

They dragged him down to where members of the gymnastics club practiced, notably where one Makie Sasaki did her rhythmics. Negi mentioned to him that even though the girl was as sweet as the color of her hair, her mind was as empty as a flower pot. She is most notably the second worst scorer of Class 2A and a member of the five-woman troupe called the _Dummy Rangers_, a study group of the five lowest scorers of the class, Makie, Kaede, Yue, Ku Fei, and, not surprisingly, Asuna. Constantine was currently dreading have to perform any and all of those study sessions with the five of them.

Constantine watched Makie as she swung about her ribbon as it danced around in the air, defying gravity and swimming with the momentum like a sea snake in the space of water. Along with her ribbon Makie accompanied with twists and turns and exotic bends of her petite body.

The gymnast finally paused as she noticed the spectators that have come before her presence, most notably, her new English teacher.

"Oh! Naughty, naughty, Mr. Leigh! You were checking me out weren't ya?" she playfully reprimanded him with a wink.

Conman shrugged his lip and shook his head, turning away from the flirting girl.

"Oh, Mr. Leigh, come back! I was only joking!" Makie cried, realizing that he was not amused by her joke.

He was then taken down to where the cheerleading squad trained. The sub was introduced to an eyeful of flashing skirt by the redheaded Sakurako. The disgruntled young man turned away pinching the bridge of his nose, refusing to look at any more glamour. Her friends, Misa and Madoka, were there as well. Any man of Constantine's age would be exhaling bales of hot CO2 at being surrounded by hordes of lovely young ladies. However, in Constantine's case, his job was professional, a strict taboo if it should come to a relationship between him and a student. Needless to say, the cheerleaders were overjoyed to see their 2nd cute Professor visit them today.

"Oh, hey Mr. Leigh! We're super happy you're here, we wanted to do an extra special cheer for you!" Sakurako beamed to him, wriggling her hips at him suggestively. Madoka and Misa followed suit with eyes of the utmost amour at him.

Constantine withheld the urge to groan…again.

He next saw the swimming pool--which was amazingly similar to the one used in the Olympics--where the swim team was currently practicing their daily drills. There he saw a navy-haired beauty with vividly bluish-purple eyes whom he recognized as Akira Okochi, one of the more mellow members of the rowdy denizens of his and Negi's students. Like before, as some of her teammates laid eyes on him, they burst out of the water to seize the chance to give him their "'hellos'". A funny thing happened though as Akira noticed Constantine who was amidst a crowd of her teammates and other girls in the gym. When he established eye contact with her, the swimmer didn't climb out of the water to give greetings to her new teacher. Instead she stayed in the water sporting some vermillion on her cheeks and coyly waved her fingers to him. He blinked at Akira's shyness, according to Negi she was normally composed, but it was a bit out of character for the pony-tailed swimmer. Then again, he normally had that sort of affect on most Japanese girls. Again, he thought, why was it that most of his adventures dragged him to the country of Japan?

"Hey, Mr. Leigh!" Fuka called to him. In the midst of being fondled by girls in their wet school swimsuits he turned, he found her standing next to a steel door with her hand on the handle, "I bet you wanna check out the locker room, don't ya?" she playfully said, cranking it down.

Constantine cringed, "Christ on a bike, _no!_" breaking away from the holds the girls had him locked in and immediately turning his back and making his way to the exit, despite the protests of the girls.

"Cutie, come back!"

"You're supposed to take me out on a date!"

Constantine paid no heed to their pleas. As soon as he escaped through the doors he turned to the wall of the gym building. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out of a piece of paper and slapped it on the wall. The paper hung still, as if it was sticking on. The writing was in Latin, a page taken from Corinthians from the New Testament.

The two twins stepped outside and spotted Constantine who quickly turned to face them after attaching the piece of paper. Without a second notice they grabbed his hands to continue on their way on the tour.

The next stop was the nurse's office, where the buxomly Shizuna Minamoto worked. According to the twins, their classmate Ako Izumi, a mousy girl with silvery hair and burgundy eyes who possesses severe hemophobia worked as her assistant.

The woman with the teal hair was busy at work, inspecting medical records on her computer, but that didn't stop her from greeting the twins and the new teacher with a friendly hello and allowing them to tour the infirmary.

Ako's reaction to Constantine's presence before her was more or less like Akira's. The disparaging trait is that when Ako spoke she could barely hold her sentences together. A possible indication that she has never had a boyfriend and that Constantine seemed to be a likely candidate. Funny thing happened though, Ako seemed to slip on some rubbing alcohol that she accidentally spilled on the floor resulting in Constantine having to dive in to catch her in his arms. The mousy girl never had the chance to thank him for she passed out in his arms when he looked at her a bit too closely asking if she was alright.

The twins decided for Constantine that now was the best time to take him down to the academy plaza.

…

Chisame Hasegawa strode along the grounds, heading back to her dormitory. Satchel with laptop inside slung on her shoulder, and her long forest-green mane tied into the same boring ponytail that bounced up and down with each step she took.

Her brown eyes narrowed at the scene she was witnessing, the twins huddling around the tall substitute teacher like puppies. Despite the three not noticing, Chisame was staring sharply at them, but most particularly, glaring at Constantine. Now, the net idol couldn't have cared less of what the substitute teacher was doing, as long it was nothing nasty. But why was this particular scene of him "eloping" with the two ragamuffin kindergarteners of the class pushing her buttons.

With eyebrows twitching, muscles bunching, fingers clenching and unclenching into her palms, a rant was being preached within the girl's irked mind, _"Oh, so that guy has a Lolita complex, huh? I guess I was wrong that he wasn't a skirt chasing perv, but to see him flirting with two little girls?!" _Her scowl became sourer as if she ate a whole lemon, for she found herself glowering at the college-student looking teacher and the two midgets who were dragging him along on a date.

"Hey Chisame!" Fuka called to Chisame, much to her outraged dismay.

Constantine shifted his gaze to meet that of lo-and-behold once again to find her glowering at the three of them. If the pupils of her glaring mahogany brown eyes were emitters of laser beams, the magnification of her glasses would have fried the trio into ashes. Like before, he disregarded whatever ill will the green haired geek was holding against him.

"Do you really like Mr. Leigh?!" Fumika asked, her voice dripping with the outmost estatic curiousity, enough to stem ire in the most stolid of persons.

"HMPH!" was the blunt answer that shrilled through Chisame's throat. In a manner of indignation, desisted her glare and stuck her nose in the air. She didn't bother giving the sub one last look as she flounced away, returning to her dorm presumably.

Constantine again had a sour look on his face as he watched her retreating form. _"Bitch."_ he thought, whatever crawled up her ass probably died in there. Screw her, he's met worse.

Continuing on their way, the twins and teacher stopped at the cafeteria for an afternoon snack. The twins ordered quite an assortment of parfaits and ice cream sundaes, enough sweets to give teeth some aching. They conned him into paying for the desserts by use of those wretched jewel-like eyes of theirs. The snacks were served by the chunky yet adorable-looking Satsuki Yotsuba. She was a very sweet girl who aspires to run her own restaurant one day. She has spent almost her entire life mastering the arts of cookery. As usual for Constantine, she greeted him with a warm smile on her face and giggled after he looked at her straight in the eye and thanked her for the desserts.

While the Narutakis helped themselves to the dishes, Constantine took the time to peer into the yearbook, once again skimming through each of the thirty-one girls' pictures. He then directed his attention to the picture of Student #1, the cryptic Sayo Aisaka, the wandering lost soul of Mahora.

"_What's her story?"_ he thought.

He was interrupted out of his thoughts as he felt a soft tapping of metal and cream against his lip. He looked up out of the yearbook to see Fumika holding a spoonful of ice cream near his face, her twin did the same by holding a forkful of cheesecake. Spoon-feeding their professor, Constantine was not amused. But not wanting to seem rude, he obliged by cupping his mouth around the morsels of food held out to him.

Meanwhile, a distance away, Asuna and Konoka were striding back to their dorms after a day of their club activities. Out of the corner of the redhead's eye she spots her two pink-haired classmates spoon-feeding their teacher. Her brunette companion noticed the scene as well and began squealing in adoration of the cuteness of seeing a young man being fed like a baby. Unfortunately, Asuna had a different conclusion on how Constantine probably got the twins to like him so quickly. The more conclusions she had drawn in her mind the more ire that started to rise in her chest.

"Why that little womanizing…" Asuna growled, "and I thought the twerp was bad," the heterochromic girl began to press the knuckles of her right fist against her left palm, producing the popping sounds of the little joints in her fingers.

"_And people said that Professor Takahata was a pedophile…"_ she thought.

Her gentle-hearted friend stood at the side once again witnessing the rising rage of her roommate. Assuming that Asuna had been jumping to conclusions again about boys being perverts, Konoka attempted to calm her down.

"Um, Asuna, I don't think—"

"I'm gonna have a little chat with Professor Constantine, I'll be right back," she dismissed to Konoka and with that she stalked off.

Konoka stayed where she stood, blinking in silence before a disappointing sigh left her mouth. This was like with poor little Negi all over again.

"Hey teach!"

Constantine looked around, spotting the owner of the call, which was Asuna who was standing meters away from the tables with her fists on her hips and her orange eyebrows knitted together with the utmost seriousness.

She raised her hand and gestured her finger towards her, sign language for telling someone to come over. Constantine turned to the twins who stared at him with curiosity as to why a classmate of theirs wanted to talk to him. After telling the two he'll be right back, he excused himself from the table and followed the pig-tailed girl. They both strode over to a spot that was a considerable distance away from earshot. Asuna then intrepidly sized him up, not paying any heed to his lofty and broad stature nor to his lean face complete with dead eyes.

He raised a finger at him, "Alright, listen. I want you to know that even though you're all hot and stuff and that you're taking over for the brat," referring to Negi, "you should know that you're still at an all-girls school and as a teacher you need to keep your distance!" she pointed out.

Leigh merely responded with deadpanned silence and a few blinks. Obviously he hasn't gained the trust of the little spitfire yet.

"Look, I know your type," she declared coolly, "just because you're wooing over practically everyone in the school, don't think you can do whatever you want!"

He felt a twinge of umbrage after that remark. He never liked the kind of girls who considered young men to be conceited little perverts who only had carnal appeal to women. In the meanwhile he decided to play dumb, "What do you mean?" he asked calmly.

"You know exactly what I mean!" Asuna exemplified, poking his chest roughly, adding wrinkles to his tie. She gave him a sharp look, "Just so we understand each other, I'm gonna keep my eye on you and if I hear or **catch** you doing something perverted I'll send you back to America!" Asuna added emphasis by holding up her rock-like fist up to his chin.

He reacted to the redhead's ultimatum by staring back stonily, "Yeah, sure, fine," he said coolly, one of Asuna's eyes twitched, miffed at him not taking her seriously. "Look, Ms. Colostomy Bag…"

" 'KAGURAZAKA!' " the class idiot shouted in rage.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he waved off, "listen, the twins are waiting for me so leave me your number and I'll get back to you," he said turning around.

"Hey!" Asuna shouted, astonished that the sub was giving her the brush-off. "Don't you turn your back on me you jerk! You get back here!" she demanded stomping her foot on the ground and pointing at the spot. "**Constantine!**" she shrilled.

The exorcist ignored her and continued walking. Out of his eye he sees Konoka who smiles at him happily and waves to him. He gave her a cool nod in return, resulting in a flash of tickled pink and a giddy giggle from the little girl. As she contently watches her new professor stroll away, a thought had entered her mind. Being a proud member of the fortune-telling club, she was an adamant believer in finding one's true love. Were the foretelling of the cards right this time? Was her true significant other just standing before her right this second? She'd have to talk to her grandfather later. Professor Constantine was truly...fascinating.

As for Constantine, well the same scruffy sort of feeling arose again. Not unlike that with Asuna, this cute, long-haired girl's aura felt...special.

Meanwhile, a considerable distance away from the Konoe, another spectator kept her attention at Constantine. Setsuna stood in the shadows with her sword Yuunagi sealed inside her bag, holstered on her shoulder. While keeping her close, hawk-like eyes on the one whom she vowed to protect with her life she too noticed her professor Constantine. The swordswoman had caught her de facto teacher glancing at her suspiciously from time to time, and quite frankly, she was getting suspicious of him as well. His ki energy was not unlike that of Professor Negi's, perhaps even stronger and much...darker. Nevertheless, it was her duty to protect her classmates, especially Ms. Konoka from harm. If Professor Constantine contributed to any trouble, he will have to be eliminated.

But deep down in the half-breed's heart, she couldn't help but feel that Professor Constantine seemed rather...fascinating.

* * *

The twins continued guiding the American around the campus, dragging him to so many areas of the campus that the muscles in his long legs were beginning to feel defunct. The last site they stopped at was probably the best one in Constantine's view. They arrived at the top of a cliff somewhere in the outskirts of the campus. Right in front of Constantine was the legendary World Tree of Mahora, the academy's pride and joy, an epitome of radiance. It stood at a majestic height that would put California redwoods to shame, so in short (figuratively), it took his breath away. Soon enough, he found himself sitting on one of the high branches, with a twin on each side.

While they were viewing the pleasant sunset, Fuka had explained to him the age-old myth of the tree. If one confesses to someone he or she likes, their love will come true. Constantine had to hold back a scoff at that

"You know, Mr. Leigh, apart from when you're teaching us, you don't seem to talk much," Fuka lays out. Seeing that wasn't getting much of a reaction from the big boy, she pressed on, "you always seem so distant, Professor, why is that?"

"Don't you like us?" Fumika asked innocently, "are we ugly?"

"No, no, no," Constantine assured, "it's just

"What?!" the twins looked affronted by that assumption

"We just want you to know that even though Professor Negi isn't here, we trust you all the same!"

"Yeah! Whoever is a friend of Professor Negi's is a friend of ours!"

Well, that brought some relief to his conscience, Constantine halted to think for a while. This was actually Negi's task to begin with and he needed it in order to become a Magisteric Auror.

The occultist managed to get the last of his limbs off the gargantuan of a tree. After saying his goodbyes to the twins who gave him a synchronized hug, he stayed behind to gaze at the sunset for a little longer. It was a long time in which Constantine had the chance to gaze at an actual sunset of a perfect evening hue. He removed his blazer and unbuttoned the cuffs of the sleeves and then rolled them up, revealing his forearms, finally giving them a chance to breathe, revealing the tattoos etched into the skin. The alchemic circle of the Red King, the fire triangle with three radiating arrows below representing the "Sulfur of the Philosophers", was decorated on the side of each arm, around the circles stretching along the arms were two tribal tattoos of distinguishing design. His left arm was decorated with thunderbolt-like and root-like lines that resembled lightning with archaic runes running along them. As for the right, it was decorated with tribal lines that resembled roaring flames of fire and the blades of razors and barbed wire. Like the left, small mystic symbols lined up along the abstract lines.

Satisfied with his pieces of body art, Constantine slid the sleeves back in place, swept on his coat and then walked back to the campus.

Up on one of the highest branches, Evangeline peered down at him with her soulless jade eyes. Upon seeing the tattoos printed on the American's arms, the vampiress arrived at one conclusion, a word that finally identified the enigmatic teen.

Exorcist.

* * *

The next day…

Constantine chose this day to bring his laptop to class, whom they took the time to ogle at. Whispers of "oohs" lingered around him as students gathered at both of his shoulders to absorb the marvel of the plasma-forged screen. The light glared against his glasses and his face, making paler than usual. His chin and his upper lip were finally bare after a morning's shave, which the girls took awe at as well. Constantine had a twinge of regret of shaving away his facial hair, now he looked more babyfaced than when he tried to grow that goatee. As for his laptop, it was a model that noone had ever laid eyes on before. The computer bore the fundamental parts of any computer, a keyboard which oddly had some extra keys with archaic symbols printed on their faces, a touchpad with a scroller, a 20"(50.8 cm) monitor that used laser technology to make the images glow with radiance, the base skin was made of a silvery chrome while the back part of the screen had a ruby chrome plating, at the top of the monitor was the tiny eye of the lens of a web cam endlessly staring at the computer's user.

Chisame couldn't help but feel pangs of jealousy at how cool her teacher's laptop looked, compared to her own VAIO notebook. At the same time, more suspicion arose in those mahogany brown eyes of hers as she stared at his fine piece of equipment. She never saw that model in any computer magazine and catalogue she had ever read

At the moment, Constantine was showing him the swiftness of his internet connection to the girls. Upon clicking on a link, no matter how weak the connection, it would make it to the next page in a second or two.

"Hey Mr. Leigh, you should check out this website," Haruna suggested, as she typed in the URL into the web browser. In a nanosecond, the screen displayed a very adorably beautiful green-haired girl in a black sailor suit with cat-like horns on her head and a pointy tail smiling seductively back at him who looked maddeningly familiar to Constantine.

"Whoa! Chiu updated her homepage! Sex-say!" a student pointed out.

At this point Chisame didn't know whether to shudder or to be flattered. She flashed back to the day when Negi finally knew about her secret and then he dragged her off to the party where her Class was holding the closing of their website, and she was STILL in her blue bunny suit! But she still thanked god when the class didn't believe that she was her alter ego. Aside from 'Neg only one other person to her knowledge knew about her secret, the burgundy-haired Kazumi. Now the cunning reporter was using it to her full advantage as the ultimate blackmail, mainly by cheating Chisame out of her meal tickets. The net idol was still plotting a way to break into the paparazzi's room to destroy every scrap of evidence she held that would give away her identity.

On the other hand, a part of her was satisfied that her female fans knew how to appreciate her work. And now with her new teacher was here, she had a new dog under the many, many leashes that hooked her male fans to her website.

"So what do you think, Professor? Isn't she hot?"

Chisame kept her ears open as a smug smile snaked across her face, awaiting Constantine's answer. A low hum droned in Constantine's deep throat. It wasn't a growl of arousal like any warm-blooded young man, more of one of…pensiveness. The clean and shapely face, the sleek and slender body, the large and ample…assets, summed up one conclusion for him.

"Yeah, she's…not bad."

Chisame's jaw dropped, _"__**WHAT?!**__ NOT BAD?! That's ALL he has to say?! He has the nerve to brush off my beauty and genius with such an insignificant compliment, how __**dare **__he?!" _she raved. Indignation of the highest caliber surged throughout Chisame's nerves. Her blood heated up to a temperature meant for a person with a high fever.

Constantine could easily sense a troubled aura not far from him. There, he saw Chisame who was trembling violently as if she was about to throw a rave. Her deskmate Yue was obviously aware of her seizure-like trembling as she calmly started to edge her seat away.

"You okay, Ms. Hasegawa?" Constantine asked out loud drawing attention to the said individual.

Chisame's ears twitched at the sound being directed at her, knowing full well that the entire class was now staring at her as if she was some sort of lunatic animal in a zoo. Slowly and steadily, like a malfunctioning robot (no offense to Chachamaru) she cranked her head up to establish eye contact with her de facto teacher. As she revealed her face some classmates couldn't help but flinch at her current expression. The lids of her eyes were twitching uncontrollably while a grisly toothy smile with gums showing snaked across her face.

In a quivering voice that was struggling to sound steady she said, "I-I'm fine, sir."

"Do you have cramps or something? A stomachache?" he asked.

Damn, he had already figured out what excuse she was going to use. If she asks him if she could go home, he can easily figure it out.

"A little, but it's, um, settling down now, so I'm okay," she said.

"Alright," said Constantine, returning to his laptop, "if it gets worse, just don't vomit in here, okay? The custodian has already had enough work to do in here."

"Hey!" some members of the class piped up.

"_Jerk,"_ she thought, swallowing down a growl as she returned to brooding, vis-à-vis glowering at Constantine.

The American knew that the greenhead was still glaring at him and he had a few guesses in mind of why his student had such ill will towards him ever since he arrived. Who would accept a near-eighteen year old guy as your middle school English teacher, let alone have a ten year old? The idea would be preposterous to say the least. This school filled with teenage, hormone-induced girls is nothing short but a danger zone, and if you throw just one boy into the mix, it's like leaving a lamb out to the wolves. Being nothing short but a gentleman was an easy task for Constantine, as well as for his diminutive friend. But this girl seemed to hate him almost instantly ever since he first started this damn job. It seems as though she was one of those pragmatists who believes only in the fundamental logics of life: the impossible is never possible and vice-versa.

Chisame kept her irises and pupils locked on her raven-haired teacher with the raven eyes. Within, she was shivering from head to toe. The look in his eyes as he is staring at her after looking at her website sent fear rushing back into the core of her beating heart. Does he know? How can he figure it out so easily? Can he read her mind? Is he some kind of a witch?!

Judging by her reaction of how he voiced his opinion, Chisame must have some involvement in this Net Idol Chiu everybody is so hyped up about. He had heard of her from conversations of passengers on the train and after seeing her online, he couldn't help but feel…indifferent towards this character. Then again, he was always different.

* * *

_After the school day…_

Constantine walked down the stone steps that led to a courtyard where a conglomerate of fancy Roman-style copper statues stood. He made it about halfway through the courtyard when he heard something.

"Hello professor," a preadolescent female voice greeted him.

Constantine looked at the direction of where the voice came from. Evangeline A.K. McDowell sat on the top of one of the statues staring down at him, the old usual smile plastered on her face.

"Ms. McDowell," he greeted in return. This is now the first time the vampire and the occultist had exchanged words.

"Beautiful day isn't it?" Evangeline she asked calmly looking up to the sky, "The sun is shining, birds are chirping, the annoying laugher of the Japanese schoolgirls echoing about the campus."

"So it is," he replied, but basically he wanted her to get to the point.

Evangeline smiled at that response, the kind of smile that Leigh didn't like. Obviously, she was up to something.

Evangeline shift her gaze back down at Constantine, "You know I've been curious about your name, professor. Don't be offended by my saying that you have a Latin-sounding last name, yet your Asian ethnicity says otherwise. So if I may ask, how did you end up with such a surname?" She was stalling.

Why was she talking about names? Fuck it, he decided to play along. "I just felt my Chinese surname was just too dry, I liked the name 'Constantine' which is why I changed it."

"I see," Evangeline commented, "it suits you…exorcist," she finished snidely.

The young Catholic's eyes slightly narrowed, _'So, she already figured it out.'_ She must have seen his tattoos.

Evangeline smiled knowing that his unspoken question already answered itself, as she continued, "Oh, I've had my suspicions at first when you arrived. Any friend of that twerp Negi's was bound to be a magus. But what perplexes me is that your life-force is much stronger than any other magician I've encountered, even Negi's. It gives me the impression that somehow a part of you isn't…human."

He flickers his eyes at the ten-year old before saying, "I'm as human as a human can be, McDowell. But I can't say the same about you…vampire."

Evangeline quirked an eyebrow, "So you know my true nature as well?"

"Who doesn't know 'The Dark Evangel', 'The Queen of the Night', 'The Puppet Mistress', 'The Apostle of Destruction', 'The Tidings of Evil' 'The Visitation of Woe', 'The Disciple of Dark Tones'," he was stroking her ego, naming every alias the dreaded vampiress had been known by.

Evangeline giggled madly in flattery, "I do miss the old names," she sighed.

"So is there something you want, doll?" Constantine asked, not wanting anymore of her binding his time.

A sinister chuckled rumbled in her throat as she faded into thin air and then suddenly appeared dangerously close to Constantine as she wrapped her small arms around his neck, and smirked in his face.

"You, my friend, your aura bears a dark taint that runs deep into your soul, it's almost as if it is permeating you into existence," she stated to him with wisdom.

She moves her face closer, her lips grazing the side of his lips as she spoke, "You hold pain, anger, hatred, regret, a concoction of emotions of the utmost negativity that you are bottling up inside, they are bound to be released creating a cataclysm that will bring every pathetic life form onto their knees," she continued.

She wrapped her arms and her legs tighter around his body, "…it excites me," she sighed in an erotically wistful fashion.

"Charmed," he said simply. To be honest, he had already been subjected to this sort of treatment many times.

"What is it that you want, McDowell?" he asked again, a tone of impatience in his words.

"A duel, my lofty friend, a duel," Evangeline answered, I want you to meet me at Sakura Boulevard at 11 PM, sharp, don't be late," she said carving across his cheek with a velvet-painted fingernail.

"And why would I want to do that?" he asked.

"Why, I want to see your magic abilities of course!" she answered matter-of-factly. "If Negi holds you in such high esteem, it's obvious that you possess magic of high caliber." She looked off to the side, continuing but in a rather bitter tone, "it's no wonder that his combat abilities in magic are so strong, you've been a tutor to him haven't you?" looking back at him again.

"I might have," he said. In fact, before Negi graduated, he gave the kid quite the harsh training on how to harness his mana better and to integrate it into communing with the wind spirits to cast attack spells. It was how Negi managed to ace the combat exams with flying colors.

"What if I don't want to partake in this damn duel?" he asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to go there," she sighed, now favoring the nape of his neck. "If you turn me down, I would be very upset. And if I'm upset, I may unwittingly take my frustration out on some innocent bystanders, some of whom may be my own classmates," she said, with no betrayal to her words.

The Conman's eyes narrowed. Brother figure or not, Negi wouldn't forgive him if any harm came to any girl in the class.

"Fine," he sighed, "what are the stakes?"

"I'll let you know when you arrive," she said, satisfied at him playing into her hands.

The sorceress then did something Constantine had no preparation for; she grabbed the collar of his shirt to kiss him on the lips. He froze in outraged astonishment as Evangeline got off of him and strode off.

She turned to him a spoke one last time, in soft deadly whispers like a rattlesnake, "I'll be waiting," with that, she walked away, licking her lips in anticipation of biting his neck to drain a nice good fill.

"Nickel for every time a female creature has come up to me and asked me that," he thought bitterly. Hopefully it wouldn't end up like many of those encounters he's had, which was best left unsaid. Wiping his lips with his sleeve, he walked off.

Not too far away, a green-haired girl with round glasses came out of her hiding place. She saw everything, sans the part where Evangeline teleported to Constantine. The way that the college-aged teacher brought the preadolescent Caucasian girl who hardly ever spoke in class wrapping around his finger, it brought ire and disgust of dynamic proportions to the computer nerd's now red face.

"I knew that slimeball was up to no good. He's no professor; he's a damn pervert, grabbing the attention of everybody in the school just for his own sick pleasure. He goes as low as eloping those pink-haired twins and now flirting with that little blond girl who never talks!

The more Chisame was appealed by the looks and height of Constantine the more she started to hate him. Only **she**,** herself**, was allowed to admire her and this…this nobody came in here out of nowhere and dared to rock her world and cleanse away her vanity?! As the computer nerd was glaring at him in rage, she only found herself to hate him even more when she began to compare herself to him.

His hair seemed to possess natural curves, something that she's always tried to bring out in her hair. Boys she's seen who have been trying to grow their hair out haven't been able to possess the waviness and silkiness that only a few lucky women held. No matter how much shampoo and conditioner she used it still wouldn't match up to the hair that the professional models had in magazines, so she had to rely on the old Photoshop to give it the perfect soft shine.

But most of all, her envy was powered by his most significant aspect, his height. She hated the fact that Constantine would always be looking down upon her, for he was both head and shoulders taller than her. Hell, he was taller than Mana, who was so far the tallest girl in the middle school.

And that face, that long, expressionless face with high cheekbones and angular features were maddening contributions of how he was winning every damn girl in the school! She hated how he brought about that air of impassiveness, as if delivering the impression that everything was beneath him. She would always flinch and blush every time he turns his gaze on her, she dared herself not to be lost in those pools of ink for eyes. But something about those eyes held something that she herself could identify with. Eyes were the windows to the souls, and behind those irises with the hardness of granite it held something. Was it pain? Pain that delved deep into the heart?

Now that Chisame thought about it, it reminded her of—

No! She snapped up. There was no need to feel sorry for herself! The point at hand was that her teacher was a pervert, a pervert in which her fellow classmates so blindly adored!

"That jerk has absolutely no idea what it means to be loved!"

With a shaking fist, she raised it up while mentally declaring her edict.

"He thinks that Negi and the entire damn school loves him?! Hah! I'll show him a thing or two about **tough** love! I'll make him regret ever making me blush every time I look at him! I'll see to it that the entire world sees that black-haired Chinese American jerk for what he is, a vain little pervert! He'll pay! Nobody makes a fool out of Chiu! Nobody!"

Chisame's glasses gleamed in the daylight in an egomaniacal fashion as her lips curved into a hyena-like smirk and deranged chuckling and giggling resounded in her throat. She dashed away to her room to begin her plans of payback.

* * *

A sharp twinge of uneasiness sent itself down Constantine's spine, his natural and psychic instincts were telling him that there was a bad omen coming to hunt him. They were also telling him something else, he wasn't alone at this moment. He surveyed his surroundings, finding himself in Sakura Boulevard, the battlefield where he must partake in after dark. The presence he sensed was not McDowell, but someone of pure soul, of innocence. Already knowing who it is, Constantine took off his glasses and dilated his psychic pupils, to again reveal the ghostly figure.

Before his eyes, Sayo Aisaka stared whimsically at the falling petals of peach blossoms that fell from the trees like snowflakes. A sad smile was on her ghostly face as she remembered that she could no longer feel the softness of the petals gracefully landing on her face. Deciding to end this melancholy scene, Constantine finally spoke up.

"Are you Sayo Aisaka?"

The little ghost shrieked out in shock, for this was the first in a long time in which someone had addressed her. Was she hearing things? It couldn't be, as she heard that voice loud and clear and it was directed at her. She recognized the deep voice, instantly acknowledging it as her very handsome teacher, Professor Constantine. A part of her didn't want to turn around, most caused by overwhelming fear. But for the sake to finally know that someone has finally found her, she steadily turned around.

Constantine's pools of void for eyes met with quivering, shining crimson red irises and pupils of the eyes of the meek ghost who has forever remained unconnected and unnoticed by every human being around her. Sayo simply couldn't speak, the voice that no one could hear had temporarily vanished from existence. She had the overwhelming urge to just zoom away and pretend that her new teacher didn't just see her and can't see her.

No, not today. Unlike others who saw her and ran away in fear, Constantine stood there with no fear, yet no hostility. Finally reconnecting her voice to her soul, Sayo finally spoke, in stuttering intervals.

"P-p-p-prof-f-fes-s-sor C-con-s-stan-t-tine," the poor soul had managed to utter out, "Y-you can s-s-see m-m-me?"

"That's right," he acknowledged.

Sayo, for the first time in the sixty plus years of wandering around the hallowed walls of the school, hopeless and worried, had finally been discovered. The long consecutive seconds, hours, days, months of loneliness ever since the day of her death have finally come to an end. Her frail, ectoplasmic body violently quivered with megalomania of emotions that have built up from the countless age of time spent in utter isolation and seclusion. It didn't matter to her HOW her new teacher could see her, the bottom line was this, she was found.

"_Someone can see me, someone can see me, someone can see me…," _the four words repeated over and over again in her mind like the unending rhythm in a song.

In a swift speed of motion, beyond what the human eye could visually calculate, Sayo found herself hysterically weeping into Constantine's shirt. Her ghostly, frail arms that can never be felt wrapped tightly around his waist, and her deluge of tears of joy spilled all over the silky cotton fabric of his dress shirt which didn't get wet. Constantine merely stood like a pole, unmoving, in a state in which the term "shock" would be considered cliché. Never before had he ever met a spirit so emotional, so reactive when discovered in the presence of the living world.

Constantine had finally decided on the one and only option of what a human being should do. He drew energy into his psychic feelers, the energy of communing with the supernatural running throughout the nerves of his arms, and returned with a gentle yet powerful hug. The little ghost snuggled underneath the new warmth of a pair of buff arms, her little spiritual body absorbed every bit of heat that ensnared around her.

This was the happiest day of Sayo Aisaka's "afterlife".

* * *

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So if you guys care or not, here's a firm message. This story will NOT be on hiatus until I say it is. Second of all, sorry for the long wait, school and writer's block does catastrophic effects to the writing spirit. Third, I am considering starting a new Negima story, only with Constantine taking 'Neg's place as a teacher in the anime storyline, like Krim the Wanderer's and abodo's fics. I know that many people will not approve of this, to quote Ansem Man "a big no no". But honestly, I not going to give a flying wallenda, so like it or hate it, I'm putting it into consideration, and maybe on paper, so no bitching. This idea will be easier for me to write rather than this complicated story, since it's not getting many reviews, at least positive ones for that matter, I'm assuming that you guys kinda hate this story. But whatever.

I would also like to give thanks to the author who wrote a story starring an OC who was much like Constantine. It was his story who originally had the emotional scene between his OC and Sayo. I forgot the OC's name and the name of the story in particular; all I know is that he had silvery hair and large round glasses, with an emotionless demeanor much like Conman's.

So if you don't know, now you know.


	5. DISCONTINUATION

To all of those who have followed my story over the years, I give you great thanks in reading my story and giving praise and advice for it. I know it has been several years I last uploaded a chapter, and I'm most regretful to say that this story has been discontinued.

Before I get lots of raves, allow me to explain. The actual purpose of this story was to test my writing abilities, and apparently, it was well received. Until I moved to college, I've had little to time to pursue my personal writing projects and on days when I DID have time, I was burdened with writer's block. Another reason being is that I've realized that OC stories that co-star along Negi or take his place is sorely looked down upon in the writing community. While I could say that I couldn't care less about what people thought, I'm still sensitive about my reputation as a writer. The last reason is that I had little to no idea what direction this story would be going; I had a very weak plot development. Before I create a story that stars an OC of my own, I must first BUILD my reputation around by creating stories that people will actually get hooked on and like before I burden them with an insert-OC story. I also want the opportunity to re-analyze and re-build my character before I share him to the world. As of now, he's pretty much a ripoff of the original John Constantine along with many elements of other characters and franchises that I enjoyed. The world is a heavily critical place and a person like him would NOT survive in it.

For those of you who did indeed enjoy this story, I'll give you a brief outline of what would have transpired in the next chapter. Constantine meets Evangeline at night and they both engage in a brief duel which was to test his abilities. The duel ends in a stalemate as Eva admits my character's potency in magic. The sideplot of my character's relationship with Chisame goes on as she tries to delve into my character's past only to find out he has none. Meanwhile, the plot goes deeper as Negi finds out that his father stumbled upon something rather dark that could mean the release of demons upon the world. While Negi arrives back in order to warn Constantine, he's attacked out of the blue by members of the Hoganji faction. Constantine eventually finds out about Asuna's true purpose and all hell breaks loose.

You see, it wasn't a very good plot, it was just a story with an extra character in there with only a few parts tweeked out. It also didn't hold enough "oomph" to coalesce into a true, hard story that people would want to follow to the end.

Again, I'm very sorry, but rest assured my writing career is not dead and it will never die, and neither will Leigh Constantine, Hellsender. In fact, I already have one or two in the making and they'll be something I hope you all will enjoy. It's a little racy and gritty, but hopefully it'll give me some esteem before I go on to force my OC into people's lives. However, Leigh Constantine is possibly my greatest literary creation yet, and he will return someday to send someone to hell…


End file.
